Contradicting Beliefs
by SweeneyOCD98
Summary: What's worse than being the new kid from another country? How about being the gay new kid from another country placed in a Catholic school? Rated T for violence and language.
1. Chapter 1

**I'm back! Before I start, I want to say that I am not against Catholics and/or religion. I'm a Catholic myself. I just wanted to get that out of the way before I got any hate mail. **

**Because of the success of "The Horrors of Our Love," (200 REVIEWS!) I decided to write another story. This will have drama and sad parts, but it DEFINITELY won't be as sad as the last story. I don't think this will be as long, either.**

**I will be HEAVILY basing the surroundings and people (that I made, not the Hetalia characters obviously) on my school and teachers. **

**I CAN'T FUCKING WAIT TO GO TO MY FIRST ANIME CONVENTION ON SATURDAY!**

**Enjoy~**

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The last year of high school, 12th grade, is a crucial time in a teenager's life. It's the time when kids make mistakes. Make friends. Form relationships. Break up. It's a time full of drama and fun. Most teenagers around this time would reach their peek in trying drugs and alcohol. It is the time in which teenagers start to think about college, a job, a future. It is supposed to be one of the best times of a person's life. Notice the phrase "supposed to be." For a certain German and Italian, it was the exact opposite. It would become one of the worst times of their lives.

What could be so hard about moving to America from Europe? A thousand things, but most people tend to forget them and immediately discriminate. Let's think of a few problems. American society is a tricky thing, you see. It is very strict, but can vary from region to region. You have the Northeastern states, the Midwestern states, and of course, the South. Each region had a different version of one society. You had to adjust very quickly. No exceptions. There was a certain cookie-cutter definition of masculine and feminine. If you didn't fit it, you would either be called gay or a tomboy. Plain and simple. You have the rebels, but they're considered weird. Another thing, people just seem to trump over the whole learning another language thing. Most people think "this is America; speak English." A terrible, but true attitude. And of course, there's the whole money problem. And, if you have children, you must decide what school they will attend.

A teenager named Ludwig Beilschmidt read through his _Englisch __für __Dummköpfe_ **(I don't know if that actually exists)** book when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. He put a bookmark in his page, took off his reading glasses, and got up from his bed. He opened his bedroom door and saw an older teenager with scarlet eyes smirking in the doorway. He sighed, "What is it, Gilbert?" he asked in German.

The older brother put on a fake pout. "Aw, I just wanted to visit my darling little brother!" He ruffled Ludwig's hair, messing up the gel and releasing it from its usual confinement. Ludwig grunted. He ran his hand through his now messy blonde locks and attempted to push them back. "Get out. I'm trying to study English, and you should do the same."

Gilbert shrugged. "Eh, nah. The Awesome Me already knows a lot of it anyway."

Ludwig went to shut his bedroom door when his brother put his hand through. "Wait! I wanted to give you some big brotherly advice before your first day or school!" Ludwig knew his brother's advice would only give him a migraine. He denied his brother's help, bid him goodnight, and shut the door. "Fine, be that way!" his brother yelled from the other side of the door. "I was just going to wish you luck and tell you to make sure no one finds out! You don't want that to happen in that kind of school!" Ludwig stopped what he was doing and became nervous. There was a tiny problem; he would be attending a _Catholic _school. It's not that he minded Catholics, but he wasn't Catholic. Actually, he didn't even know what religion he considered himself. But, that's not the crucial problem. He knew how Catholics felt about people like him… Being the new kid is one thing, but being the _gay _new kid in a _Catholic _school is something else entirely. But he would attend because the public schools in the city were dangerous. There were a good bit that weren't, but Ludwig's parents didn't want to take the risk of their son being hurt. So, they worked their asses off to come up with the money for Catholic school tuition. Ludwig decided to get ready for bed. With a heavy sigh he stared at the ceiling of his new home. He missed his native country, Germany. He wasn't the kind of person who made friends easily, so he was more nervous than the average person. He closed his eyes, but sleep never came.

Ludwig silently walked through the halls of his new school, anxious. He didn't know anyone, and he still wasn't confident of his English skills. He should have studied harder, despite his brother teasing him about studying before school actually started. He looked down at his paper and read the numbers. Room 210. His sapphire eyes looked at the door in front of him and saw the same numbers. He cautiously entered the room and looked around. The room was fairly small with 26 desks. Like every room in the building, it had a crucifix and a statue of some lady dressed in a blue cloak. The statues made the place even more intimidating. Some students had already arrived, and were talking to each other in little groups. There was a boy student sitting at his desk with a wild curl sticking out the side of his head and bunch of girls gathered around him. _Lucky him,_ the German thought. The boy was talking with extravagant hand motions and in a relatively high voice. _Probably flirting with those girls. _Ludwig sat down in a vacant seat in the front and set his book bag down on the floor. A woman, presumably the teacher, stepped in the room. She was woman in her late thirties with black hair and a stocky build. She smiled. "Good morning. Stand for prayers." The class immediately stood up and pushed their chair under the desk, and he the same. He mimicked their actions and made the Sign of the Cross. The whole class started to recite a prayer; one he was not familiar with. He wasn't particularly religious himself, but he was absolutely clueless since it was in English. Soon the class stopped and sat down, and he quickly did the same, trying to be as inconspicuous and possible.

"Alright, class," the teacher walked to a podium in the front of the room. "As I told you earlier in the week, we have a new student joining us today." Ludwig felt all eyes on him, and his fair cheeks turned pink. "His name is Ludwig Be-Beil..schmidt? Beilschmidt? Is that correct?" she looked at him. He looked up and nodded, a little annoyed with the woman. Honestly, his name wasn't that hard to pronounce. She continued, "Okay. Ludwig Beilschmidt. You're from Germany, right?"

Ludwig nodded again. She smiled. "I'm Mrs. Tori. Welcome to Room 210. I will be your Homeroom, religion, and English teacher."

He offered a small smile. "Thank you," his heavily accented voice spoke for the first time. He felt his cheeks burn again when he heard the reply come from his mouth. He pronounced the "th" as a "z". Mrs. Tori then began to talk to her class for a good ten minutes about how they must treat him with kindness and respect. Ludwig sat there awkwardly and waited for class to start. He looked at the walls of the classroom. There were many posters and paintings of saints, and one giant picture of Jesus in the center. Eventually, she finished talking and reached inside the podium where books were stored. "English books, please."

Oh, great. Just what he needed to start his first day. Ludwig reached inside his book bag and removed his English books and pen. He then began the difficult task of comprehending the foreign English words that were printed on the papers in front of his face.

Meanwhile, in the back of the classroom, amber eyes were staring at Ludwig. The eyes blinked and a cloud of daydreams washed over them. Pink lips turned upwards into a smile. _Veh, he's cute…and German!_ A small Italian chewed on the cap of his pen and stared at the new boy intently. He noticed the German's hair was slicked back in gel and well kept. The color reminded him of lemons.

"Feliciano!"

The brown-eyed boy in question jumped and directed his attention to Mrs. Tori. "Ah! Y-yes?"

The teacher stared at him. "Yes, Mrs. Tori," she corrected.

"Yes, Mrs. Tori?" Feliciano asked. He gulped and felt tears threatening to form.

She narrowed her eyes. "I asked if you knew the answer to number 8. Is the phrase restrictive or nonrestrictive?"

He averted his eyes. "I don't know," he answered quietly.

She huffed. "I knew you weren't paying attention. Can I see you after class?" Feliciano looked down at his desk, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. "Yes, Mrs. Tori." She turned back to the chalkboard and continued to write a sentence on the board. She began to analyze some passage from a book and students raised their hands to answer the questions. Feliciano sighed. He knew how to speak English pretty well, but analyzing it was a completely different story. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't figure out all the bullshit rules like not being able to end a sentence with a preposition or those very suggestive sounding dangling participles or some other nonsense. He sighed and decided to give up on his work. He had more important things to do, like staring at the hot foreign student in the front of the classroom.

After 45 long minutes, the bell rang and class ended. Here's a funny thing about this school: the people there are dirt cheap. They will act like they're struggling for money, when they're really not. This is why one teacher teaches multiple subjects, like Mrs. Tori. Ludwig exited the classroom and went straight to his locker, which was right across the hall. He put his bag in his locker and grabbed his books for the next subject, social studies. He heard a _thud _next to him. He turned away from his locker to see books sprawled out all over the floor and an Asian boy trying to get every one of them. Ludwig bent down and grabbed the books. He handed them to the Asian, who smiled in return. "Thank you," he stood up and Ludwig did the same.

Ludwig processed the English words in his mind and responded, "Don't mention it."

The boy walked to the locker next to Ludwig's and unlocked it, placing his books inside. "My name is Kiku Honda," the boy said over his shoulder.

"Ludwig Beilschmidt," the German replied and held out his hand. He and Kiku shook hands and offered each other a small smile. "So, you are from Germany?" Kiku asked.

"Ja, I am."

"Very nice. Your English sounds good, too."

Ludwig closed his locker. "Thanks, but I'm still having some trouble."

"I am, too," Kiku rummaged through his locker for his books.

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "English isn't your first language?"

Kiku shook his head. "No, Japanese is. Luckily, I started to learn at a young age so I have less trouble. But, I heard that German and English are similar? I don't mean to offend if it isn't."

Ludwig began to feel a little more comfortable with his acquaintance, noticing the Japanese boy's politeness and the calmness in his voice. "Well, certain words are alike. But the grammar is different. The thing I have the most trouble with is pronunciation."

"Oh," Kiku said from inside his locker. "Hai, English pronunciation is very difficult and random." As Kiku spoke, Ludwig noticed he wasn't pronouncing the letter 'L' correctly. Knowing it was not right to ask why he wasn't pronouncing it right, he dropped the subject. He looked around the hallway and saw Mrs. Tori standing outside her classroom with a boy. It was the same boy that was flirting with all those girls when he came into the classroom. Wait, why was the boy crying? All he did was answer a question incorrectly. Seeing Ludwig's confused expression, Kiku followed the German's eyes. He saw the crying Italian and made a quiet "oh."

"That's Feliciano," Kiku said to Ludwig. "He spaces out a lot and gets scolded for it."

"That's it? Why is he crying?"

Kiku smiled. "That's just the way Feliciano is. He cries a lot. He gets scolded a lot. He gets just as upset every time it happens."

They saw Feliciano wipe his eyes and nod to his teacher. The Italian walked over to them. Ludwig and Kiku quickly pretended that they weren't just staring at him.

"Hi, Kiku!" Feliciano beamed.

Ludwig stared at the boy. Wait. What? He was just crying! Was he bipolar or something? Feliciano turned his head to Ludwig and gave him the brightest of smiles. It was so bright it made Ludwig's heart beat faster. _Don't think that, not in here, _Ludwig scolded himself.

"Ciao!" the hyper boy cheeped. "My name is Feliciano Vargas!" The boy abruptly grabbed Ludwig's hand and shook it vigorously. "Yours is Ludwig Beilschmidt, right? You're German? Ooo, that's cool! I'm Italian! But you could probably already tell that by my name, and…your hand is big! And strong!"

Ludwig stared in astonishment at how Feliciano was able to say so many things in such a short amount of time. He turned to Kiku and gave him a look like "is this guy serious?" Kiku simply smiled. Ludwig heard a distant voice say, "The new kid's talking to him? I feel bad."

"Uh," Ludwig retracted his hand. "Ja…Nice to meet you, Feliciano." He was taken aback by the enthusiasm of the kid. Also, he had never seen someone look so happy. His eyes were so bright...

The bell rang and the three quickly scurried to their classrooms. Kiku had to run to be on time for his math class. Ludwig and Feliciano both had religion class with Mrs. Tori. They sat down in the same seats, Feli in the back and Ludwig in the front. Mrs. Tori pulled up a brown chair in the center of the classroom and sat down with a large, red book in her hands. "Bibles out, please." Ludwig took out the book and awaited his next instructions. To be honest, he never read one word of the Bible. She told them to read the first 20 chapters of Leviticus in the Old Testament. Ludwig searched through the index of the Bible and found the page. It was in chapter 18 verse 22 where Ludwig read words that made his blood go cold.

"_Thou shall not lay with mankind, as with womankind. It is an abomination."_

Ludwig felt very uncomfortable. He shifted in his chair and did his nervous tic: rubbing the back of his neck. He didn't know why he felt so nervous. After all, it's not like anyone knew; he had only been there for a little more than an hour. He pushed his reading glasses back up against his nose. He remembered his brother's advice. He would not let anyone find out. He feared discrimination more than anything. He stared at the words on the page. His upper lip twitched. This is why he was never big on religion.

"Not today," the teacher spoke, "But sometime this week, we'll be discussing these passages."

_Oh, wunderbar,_ Ludwig rolled his eyes. He could already imagine what kind of things would be said…

Soon, noon came and lunchtime occurred. Ludwig made his way to the cafeteria with his brown paper bag clenched in his hands. He entered the large lunchroom and looked at the tables. Everyone was in little groups, much like they were in the classroom. He sighed and figured he would just sit at the empty table. He sat down at the blue table and moved to open his bag.

"Hey!" a hand was placed on Ludwig's shoulder. Ludwig jumped and turned around to see who the hell was touching him. Standing above him was the hyperactive Italian with the weird curl, Feliciano. "Why are you sitting all by yourself?" his smile quickly turned into a frown.

"Oh," he gently removed Feliciano's hand. "Well, I don't really know anyone…"

"You know me!" Feliciano's eyes sparkled with enthusiasm. "I'll sit with you!"

He hopped onto the bench next to Ludwig and set down his paper bag. He took out a container with pasta inside.

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "You bring pasta to school?"

Feliciano put a giant mouthful of pasta into his mouth. "Hm? Si!" he said through bites of spaghetti. Noodles dribbled on Feliciano's chin and sauce covered his mouth. Ludwig winced. He was so sloppy!

"Konichiwa, Ludwig-san and Feliciano-kun."

The pair looked ahead to see Kiku sit down across from them with a plate of rice balls.

Ludwig smiled. "Oh, hallo Kiku."

"Ciao, Kiku!" Spaghetti spilled out of Feliciano's mouth. Ludwig resisted the urge to get a napkin and wipe away the mess.

Ludwig took out his lunch, wurst and a bottle of water, and began to eat. "Mind if we join you?" a girl asked. Ludwig looked up at the owner of the voice. It was a girl with long brown hair and green eyes, a boy with bushy eyebrows, blonde hair, and green eyes, and another boy with long blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Sure!" Feliciano squeaked.

The trio sat down on Kiku's side of the table. The girl held out her hand to Ludwig. "I'm Elizaveta, nice to meet you."

Ludwig shook her hand with a small grin. "I'm Ludwig, Nice to meet you, too."

"I'm Arthur," the boy with bushy eyebrows introduced himself in an English accent.

"I'm Francis," the boy with the long hair said in a French accent. Ludwig smiled to them all and gave a small nod. He was glad the people were being so friendly. He didn't expect to make friends this quickly, or at all, for that matter. He really didn't have friends back in Germany…

"So, Ludwig," Kiku spoke. "How are you enjoying your first day so far?"

Ludwig finished chewing before he replied. "It's alright," he took a sip of his water bottle. "I'm glad everyone has been so kind."

Kiku smiled. "That's good."

"We welcome everyone," said Elizaveta.

"Veh, you seem really cool!" Feliciano chirped. "We should be friends!"

Ludwig blinked. "Friends?"

"Si!" His expression quickly turned sad. "Or, d-do you not want to?"

Ludwig began to panic when Feli's amber eyes welled up with tears. The table looked around and shook their heads, used to Feliciano's sudden tears. "A-ah, no!" Ludwig quickly responded. Shit, was that the right response? "I mean, yes!" His brain struggled to process the English words as Feli began to cry. "Look!" he grabbed the small Italian by the shoulders, causing people to stare. Elizaveta beamed and whispered something into Kiku's ear, who blushed in response. Ludwig realized his error and let go and Feliciano stopped crying. "Yes, I want to be your friend. Okay? Stop crying."

"Yay!" Feliciano suddenly grabbed the German in a hug. Ludwig's heart stop and blood rushed to his cheeks. Now people were _really _staring.

"Don't do that to the new kid, you little shit."

Ludwig's brows furrowed. _Who the fuck…?_

"Oh!" Feliciano backed away from Ludwig as if he was on fire. His heartbeat quickened as he stared at the boy who insulted him. "I'm sorry, Nicky!"

Elizaveta stood up. "Hey, don't talk to him like that!"

Nicky completely ignored her and said, "You're lucky and I don't slap you right now."

Feliciano whimpered. Why did he have to come by and ruin everything? He hoped he wouldn't get beaten in front of his new friend...

Ludwig saw the boy, Nicky, standing behind Feli's chair, staring him down with a few other boys around him. Nicky was a little taller than average with a little bit of muscle and a hard face. His hazel eyes narrowed on Feliciano. "Just keep your hands off him."

Nicky turned to Ludwig. "Sorry, uh, Ludwig, right? I know this brat can be annoying."

Ludwig glared at the boy and his "posy." Who the hell did he think he was to pick on the Italian like that? He felt a strange bubbling anger in the pit of his stomach.

"Feliciano is my friend," Ludwig crossed his muscular arms over his chest. "Und I would appreciate it if you would not talk to him in that way." His voice was crisp and his eyes was sharp.

The boys looked at each other and laughed. "Ohhh, sorry," another boy jeered. The lunch bell rang. "Well, catch ya later, Ludwig," Nicky laughed and walked away with his little crew. When Ludwig turned back to the table, he saw the others trying to comfort a crying Feliciano.

"Feliciano," he slowly put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Why did they…?"

"I have to go!" Feliciano shot up from his chair and practically ran out the lunchroom. He felt so sorry for his new friend. He looked at Nicky and the others from a distance. He wanted to punch them in the face. But still, why were they doing that? Confused blue eyes met a sad brown. "They bully him a lot," explained Kiku. "It's been like this for a few years, now." The other three looked at each other and sighed. They began to walk out of the room.

Ludwig couldn't fathom why someone would want to bully someone like Feliciano. Sure, he was a crybaby and looked a little week, but he was so nice. "Why do they pick on him?" he asked.

Kiku stopped walking. He stood there for a moment before saying, "I am afraid you will have to ask Feliciano. It's a rather…personal situation."

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**What did you think? Should I continue, or just delete it and pretend it never happened? Please review~**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks for all the reviews saying I should continue. I'm sorry I didn't update sooner! I was preparing for a convention.**

**Yesterday, I went to Zenkaikon with my sister (Hungary) and my friend (Ronald Knox from Black Butler). Hetalia basically took over the place. I met 4 other Italys and must have posed for about 50 pictures :P I met 2 Germanys (I have pictures *fangirls*) and a lot of other characters. There was a guy dressed as Sebastian from Black Butler that was molesting a neko-Italy. He stopped and stared at me. He reached out to touch my curl and the whole Hetalia crowd screamed :3**

**Anyway, enjoy! ~**

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For the rest of the day, Ludwig was worried about Feliciano. He decided that after school, he would find his new friend and ask him what was wrong. Ludwig wasn't very experienced in comforting a friend (or friendship to begin with), but he figured it was the right thing to do. Plus, Feli seemed so nice and he wanted to help with whatever bullying problems he was having. Even if he only knew him for a few hours.

After lunch, Ludwig had social studies class with one of his new teachers. When walking through the hall, he saw Elizaveta. He trotted and caught up with her. She greeted him with a smile.

"Hey, Ludwig. Are you going to social studies, too?"

"Ja. I was wondering, what is the teacher like?"

Before Elizaveta could speak, another girl passing by chimed into the conversation. "Who, Mr. Jones? He's amazziinng!" she smiled brightly.

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah, but not in the way you may think," Elizaveta giggled. "He is a good teacher, sure, but the girls love him because he's hot."

Ludwig instantly blushed and began to walk faster down the hall, trying to tune out the series of giggles coming from the girls behind him. If the girls thought the teacher was hot, he would probably think the same. That's not good.

Ludwig entered the classroom and plopped down into a chair with a sigh. He turned around in his seat to look at the clock hanging on the back wall. 1:05. Another hour and fifty-five minutes to go before he could ask Feliciano what's wrong. For some reason, it was really bothering him. He looked around the class and saw one of the boys he met at lunch, Arthur, talking to Elizaveta. He turned around when he heard the door open. Through the door walked a man in his late twenties or so. Ludwig felt his cheeks grow warmer. The man _was _pretty attractive… He had dirty blonde, wispy hair with a cowlick right near his forehead. He had sparkling blue eyes covered by glasses that only added to his looks. Ludwig noticed his teacher was wearing a brown leather jacket with the number 50 printed in white on the back.

Mr. Jones smiled. "Good afternoon!" he greeted in an overly-cheerful voice. He turned to Ludwig. "Ah, you're the new boy. Ludwig, right?" Mr. Jones held out his hand. "I'm Alfred F. Jones. You can call me Alfred or Mr. Jones, mkay?"

Ludwig smiled back and shook his hand. "Okay, Mr. Jones." Ludwig didn't feel comfortable with addressing his teacher by his first name, so his last name would do. He was a little surprised by how casual Mr. Jones acted towards his students.

Alfred winked at Ludwig (making Ludwig's cheeks burn even more) and turned to the chalkboard. "Today, class," he turned on his heel to face his class. "We will start learning about War World II. Neat, huh? This is the interesting part of history." Some members of the class looked at each other and nodded in agreement. Ludwig also liked the topic and grinned. Mr. Jones turned to Arthur and grinned cheekily. "Almost as interesting as the time when the Americans kicked England's butt and won our independence." Arthur rolled his green eyes and looked away from his teacher, blushing slightly. Mr. Jones would always bring up the American Revolution just to get on his nerves. It irked him to death. The class chuckled. Ludwig had a feeling he would like his social studies class and teacher very much.

The blessed hour finally came after a long day; 3 o'clock. The students ran from their classrooms like a pack of wild animals. Ludwig walked to his locker and took out the necessary supplies for that night's homework. He couldn't help but smile. His first day had been a good one. He actually made friends! Pathetic as it may sound, he never really had them before. He locked his locker and darted to the front doors of the school. He patiently waited outside the building for Feliciano, hoping he hadn't left already.

"Hey, Ludwig," an unfamiliar voice called. Ludwig turned his head to see a group of boys standing near him. "We're going to the park to play baseball," the same boy said. "Do you want to join us?"

Ludwig blinked in surprise. These boys, who he didn't say one word to, were asking him to hang out? He smiled. "Oh, no thank you. I'm waiting for someone."

The boy shrugged. "Sure. Another time." The group walked away. Ludwig honestly couldn't believe how much he was welcomed that day. He really thought he would be alone for a few weeks. Maybe the whole year. Sure, that Nicky kid and his group were assholes, but everyone else was fine. Maybe it was because of the long talk Mrs. Tori gave them. He didn't know. Or maybe it had to do with the posters he saw on the walls that said things like, "Love your neighbor a yourself." Suddenly, the front door swung open and hit Ludwig right in the face. He gasped and held his now throbbing nose.

Feliciano's amber eyes widened and he ran to Ludwig. "Oh, Ludwig!" he put his hands on Ludwig's. "I'm so sorry! I didn't see you!" Oh no, he hurt his new friend! Ludwig probably thought he was an absolute idiot now!

Ludwig sniffed and removed his hands from his face. "It's fine," he managed to say through pain. Ludwig wasn't a crybaby, but getting hit in the face with a glass door would hurt anyone. He looked at the palms of his hands and was relieved to find no blood. Feliciano was still panicking. "Are you b-bleeding? Wah! I'm such an awful friend!" Feli's eyes filled with tears. Ludwig quickly put his hands on Feli's shoulders like last time. "Look! I'm not bleeding, see? I'm fine!"

Feli raised his watery eyes to look at Ludwig's face. He smiled when no bruises or blood appeared. He couldn't help but notice how terribly close he was to the new boy. He also noticed how much taller the German was than he. He would say he was a good eight centimeters taller. Feliciano looked into Ludwig's sapphire eyes. His cheeks turned a light pink and he could hear his heartbeat. The gel in Ludwig's hair must have been coming undone because a stray blonde hair fell over his face. Feli wondered what he looked like without any gel in his hair.

Ludwig noticed their closeness and hastily removed his hands from Feli's shoulders. "Uh, ahem, look," he rubbed the back of his neck and could feel the tip of his nose turn red. "I wanted to ask you something."

Feli's watery eyes grew a little more serious. "What is it?"

"Um, well…" Damn, how was he to ask his question? It's not the easiest thing in the world to walk up to someone you've barely known for a day and ask, "Hey, why are you being bullied?" Ludwig realized they were still standing in front of the front door. "Uh, can we talk somewhere more private?"

Feliciano was very curious, but agreed. "My house isn't far from here," Feliciano said. "It's about four blocks away on Chadwick Street."

"Really?" Ludwig recognized the street name. "Mine is on Ritner Street."

Feli smiled. "Really? Cool! We only live a few blocks away from each other! Why don't we talk and I walk you home?"

To Ludwig's knowledge, walking someone home from school was something people did when they were either in a relationship or had some kind of interest in each other. He gulped nervously, but agreed.

They walked the pavements covered in orange and brown colored autumn leaves. Feliciano had launched into a conversation about…well, Ludwig's really wasn't sure. He just nodded his head from time to time, still amazed a person could talk so much in such a short amount of time. He was talking about his older brother, Ludwig at least thought. Ludwig finally interrupted Feli by saying, "Feliciano-"

"Oh, you don't have to call me 'Feliciano,'" the Italian said.

Ludwig stared at him. "Then what can I call you?'

"Well, you can call me that, or just 'Feli.' Just whichever is easier for you. You were saying?"

"Okay, Feli," Ludwig used the new nickname. "I want to ask you something."

"Oh yeah. I forgot about that. Sorry. What is t?"

Ludwig mentally prepared himself. "Why are you being bullied? I mean, you seem so nice and…"

Feliciano frowned. "Oh, that." He stared at his feet. They walked in a moment of silence. Feli turned to Ludwig with a look of genuine sadness. Tears did not come to his eyes, which was surprising to Ludwig. Ludwig frowned. His friend looked so sad. Was it really that bad?

"They bully me because I'm gay," Feli said quickly, walking a little faster. Ludwig stopped walking and stared at his friend. Feli was gay? But why were all those girls around him earlier? "Wait, there were a bunch of girls around you! You weren't flirting?"

Feli quickly spun around. "No, I wasn't flirting!" he spat venom. "They're just my friends!" He turned back around and began walking again. He felt tears of anger and humiliation emerge.

Ludwig ran after him. "Wait!" he called. "I didn't mean to upset you!" Feliciano kept walking and did not say a word. "I was just surprised!" Ludwig yelled. "I didn't think you were like that, too!"

Feliciano halted his steps and Ludwig's heart halted its beats. _Oh fuck,_ he thought to himself, _why did I say that? _Feliciano turned to Ludwig with the utmost look of shock on his face. _Did I hear that right? _He saw the uncertain look on Ludwig's face and the blush on his pale cheeks. Feliciano took slow steps towards his friend. He walked up to Ludwig and looked up at him. Ludwig looked down and bit his lower lip, not appreciating the scrutiny or lack of words. "You're gay, too?" Feliciano asked quietly so no one around could hear. Ludwig had an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. Should he really admit his sexually to a boy he met seven hours earlier? But then again, he had a feeling he could trust Feliciano with something like this; especially if he was in the same situation. Taking a deep breath, Ludwig nodded. "Yes. I am."

Feli's heart thumped loudly in his chest. The boy he was developing a crush on was gay, too? He stared up at his friend. Ludwig lips were so _kissable_. He wrapped his arms around the larger boy's torso. Ludwig's face turned a bright cherry. "Fe-Feliciano! What are you doing?"

"We have to stick together," Feli did not let go. "I won't tell them about you. I don't want you to end up like me. But, I want you to help me."

"Help you?" Ludwig awkwardly stood there. Noticing Ludwig was not planning on returning the hug, Feli dismissed his feeling of disappointment and let go.

"Si. Help me with the boys that pick on me." He averted his eyes. "You look big and strong and stuff."

Ludwig sighed. "Feliciano, I can't just randomly beat them up."

"I know!" Feli looked up. "I mean, just protect me and that stuff," he twiddled his thumbs.

Ludwig thought about what Feliciano said. They did have to stick together. The gay kids in a Catholic school. They couldn't be left alone. The discrimination they would receive may not only come from the students…Ludwig felt angry. How _dare_ those assholes pick on his friend just for being gay! What the hell was wrong with them?

"How did they find out anyway?" Ludwig asked calmly.

Feli shook his head sadly. "It was in 10th grade, I was reading a magazine with Elizaveta during recess. I idly commented on how cute a guy looked in one of the pictures. The boys overheard and started to call me 'faggot' and all kinds of nasty things." Feli wiped away a stray tear with his sleeve.

Ludwig almost growled. He fucking _hated _that word. He saw the tears threatening to spill from Feliciano's eyes. "Don't worry, Feli. We just have a few more months left."

"I can't wait a few more months!" Feliciano yelled. Ludwig flinched. "I've been putting up with this for two years!" Tears were running down his tan cheeks. He took a deep breath. "Please, Ludwig," he breathed. "Tell me; how were you able to get through school? How did you survive the bullying in Germany?"

"Well," Ludwig shifted from leaning on one foot to another. "No one ever found out. I always studied hard and kept to myself. I'm sorry, but I never really went through bullying before."

Feliciano and nodded and there was a long moment of silence between them. "Does anyone else know?"

Ludwig nodded. "My older brother. I'm kind of afraid to tell my parents," he admitted sheepishly. He didn't know why he was telling such intimate parts of his life to this kid, but he was.

"My whole family knows," Feliciano said. "They don't have a problem with it at all. Actually, my brother's gay, too."

"Hm. It must be nice…" Ludwig did not finish his comment.

Feliciano frowned. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable."

"Oh, no!" Ludwig responded quickly. "It's fine."

They stood there in the middle of the sidewalk. "Hey," Feliciano tapped Ludwig's arm. "I'm sorry I yelled at you," Feli apologized. He averted his brown eyes. Auburn lashes blinked slowly and sweetly.

Ludwig made a "tch" sound and shook his head. "No, it's fine. We'll put an end to the bullying, okay?"

Feliciano's eyes brightened like the sun. "Really?"

Ludwig allowed himself to smile. "Really."

Feliciano made a mental note about how cute Ludwig's smile was. He had a strong urge to hug his new friend. His whole body felt warm. He didn't think he could hold back the feelings much longer. Feliciano had always been a flirt. He flirted with girls when he was younger, but just for fun. He didn't know what to do when it came to flirting with another man, though. Plus, Ludwig seemed very serious and stoic. He highly doubted the German would ever return feelings other than that of friendship.

A door to the house they were in front of swung open. Ludwig rolled his eyes upon seeing his older brother smirking at him. "I guess we made it to my house and never noticed," Ludwig said to Feliciano.

Gilbert's smirk widened. "Wow, did you actually make a friend?" he asked in German. Feliciano stepped back. "Veh, German sounds scary."

Ludwig chuckled and Gilbert's eyes fixed themselves on Feli. Feli whimpered under the older German's stare. His scarlet eyes made him very intimidating, Feliciano thought. "Feli, this is my older brother, Gilbert," Ludwig said with some distaste. "Gilbert, this is my new friend, Feliciano."

"Hmmm," Gilbert hummed. "You actually made a friend, West?" Ludwig merely growled and turned back to his friend. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Feli."

Feli smiled. "Yeah. Bye, bye, Luddy!" he skipped down the street. Wait, what the heck was with that nickname? Ludwig's flinched at his older brother's cackles.

"Awww, he calls you by a nickname!" Gilbert laughed.

"Go away!" Ludwig switched to German and pushed himself through the door. "And what the hell was with the comment on how I actually made a friend? Must you embarrass me every chance you get?"

Gilbert grabbed his brother in a headlock. "D'aww, I'm sorry I upset my poor baby brother."

Ludwig groaned and pushed Gilbert's arms off his head. "Will you stop it?"

"What's going on in here?" a voice made the two brothers freeze. They stood up straight as their father entered the room. "Nothing, Dad!" Gilbert replied with a nervous grin.

Mr. Beilschmidt narrowed his blue eyes. "Gilbert, go to your room."

"But, Dad, I'm twenty years-old! Aren't I a little too old for that punishment?"

Mr. Beilschmidt did not reply. He stood there with his arms crossed and a hard glare. Gilbert knew by now that this meant the argument was futile. He sighed and climbed the stairs to his room. Mr. Beilschmidt shook his head. "I don't know what to do with him." He turned to Ludwig. "How was your first day?"

Ludwig shrugged and set his schoolbag down. "It was good. I made a few friends."

His father smiled. "I'm glad. I was worried about you. Your mother was, too."

Ludwig smiled in return. He was always close with his father. "I was fine. The work doesn't seem too hard and the people are nice. Well, most of them."

Mr. Beilschmidt sat down on a nearby armchair and raised an eyebrow. "Most of them?"

"Ja," Ludwig sat down on the couch. "There's a group of boys that were bullying one of my new friends."

Mr. Beilschmidt waved his hand. "Don't worry about them," he said. "If they ever lay a finger on you, just beat them up. You could, after all."

Ludwig looked down at his hands. "It's not me I'm worried about, though. It's my friend."

" 'Cause he probably has a crush on the kid!" Gilbert yelled down the steps.

"Go back to your room!" Mr. Beilschmidt yelled. They waited until they heard footsteps disappear and the shutting of his bedroom door. Mr. Beilschmidt turned back to his youngest son. "Why do they bully your friend, do you know?"

This was indeed, not something Ludwig wanted to talk about with his father. He was never entirely sure of his position on gays. "Uh, it's kind of personal," Ludwig replied.

"Alright, then," Mr. Beilschmidt asked nothing more. "If Gilbert is right, and you do have a crush on your friend (Mr. Beilschmidt smirked at the look of horror on Ludwig's face) then you should help her."

Ludwig didn't bother to tell his father his friend was a boy. He just nodded and told his father he wanted to start his homework. When he went upstairs, he knocked on his brother's door. "Yeah?" Gilbert called.

"Open up," Ludwig said.

Gilbert got up from his bed and opened the door. "Look," Ludwig's voice grew low. "Can you _please_ not joke that I have a crush on Feliciano? I don't want Mom or Dad to find out about, you know."

Gilbert nodded. "Okay. I'm sorry." Ludwig simply nodded and tightened his grip on the strap of his schoolbag. Gilbert smirked, a thought reaching his mind. "Do you like the kid, West?"

Ludwig's cheeks instantly flashed red. "No!"

"Hmm, suuureee," Gilbert hissed. Ludwig loved his brother to death, but he was such a fucking ball-breaker. "I see the way you blush," Gilbert continued. "The reason why Feliciano is being bullied is because he's gay, right?"

Ludwig stared at Gilbert in shock. "How were you able to figure it out?"

Gilbert laughed. "Well, he called you 'Luddy' and he was blushing. That's all the evidence I needed."

Ludwig sighed. "Ja, because you're so smart."

"I am!" Gilbert pouted. "You know, the kid looks a little familiar. Kind of like my buddy Tony's boyfriend."

"Well, he did say he has an older brother," said Ludwig. "But I can't remember his name. Look, I have to do my homework. Just remember what I said, okay?"

"Okay," Gilbert winked. He leaned forward and whispered, "You may not know it yet, but I _know_ you like that kid." Before Ludwig could tear his brother's throat out, Gilbert quickly shut the door and locked it.

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**I really didn't want to keep Luddy or Feli's sexuality a secret in this story, that's why I said it so early. Yes, America is the teacher! I still have about 4 characters to introduce that are not going to be from Hetalia, but based on people from real life. Did you like this chapter? Please review~**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello! Sorry I didn't update sooner. I was busy this week. My class went to Baltimore, Maryland for our 8th grade trip. It was fun. I got a book called _Japanese: Demystified. _OH! I was in the manga section with my sister (she was my chaperon) and there was this asshole! He was on the phone and said "Yeah, this sucks. They just have a bunch of yaoi shit. This only thing that would make this worse is Hetalia. Ew, they have Black Butler, too."**

**ASSHOLE!**

**Enjoy~**

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The next morning, Ludwig awoke to the sound of his alarm clock next to his bed. He sat up and stretched briefly before shutting off the clock. He yawned and hopped off his bed and onto the cold hardwood floor. He walked out of his room and headed to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, used the toilet, and began shaving. He hated facial hair. It was itchy and uncomfortable. Plus, he just didn't look right with a mustache. He grabbed a towel and wiped away any leftover shaving cream. He looked over his reflection. His blonde bangs were growing in front of his eyes. That's another thing Ludwig never liked; long hair. He was due for a haircut soon.

He slipped on the grey trousers of his school uniform. He buttoned his white shirt and slid his navy blue vest over it. He fixed his navy blue tie and sighed. This new uniform was very formal, but also very stiff. But still, it looked nice. It made Feliciano look very nice…He put a hand over his rapid heart and shook his head. He spent most of the night thinking about Feliciano. As much as he hated himself for it, he couldn't deny the warm feeling he would get in his cheeks and chest when he thought of his new friend. It was pathetic, and he would think of him no more. He slicked his hair back in its usual confinement and grabbed his schoolbag, ready for his second day of school.

Feliciano skipped down the sidewalk, humming to himself merrily. School time! He didn't like the actual learning part of school, but he sure loved to see his friends. His smile widened as he thought of Ludwig. His new friend. His new friend whom he trusted with a very intimate secret. His new friend who trusted _him_ with a very intimate secret. He could hardly believe that they exchanged such personal information in only one day, but he wasn't complaining. He thought of Ludwig the previous night. Feli came to the sad conclusion that just because Ludwig was gay as well, did not mean he would have a chance with the shy German. He came to a halt when he reached the corner of the street. The crossing guard smiled. "Good morning, Feliciano."

"Good morning, Candy!" Feliciano chirped.

Candy smiled and motioned for Feliciano to cross the street. He continued to skip until his reached the gates of the school. He walked through the gates normally, not wanting the boys to see and call him "gaybird" or something like that. The dumbass bullies were another part of school Feliciano hated. But having a gay friend beside him was comforting. He wasn't alone anymore! He walked through the hallways of school with his usual smile plastered on his face. He greeted Elizaveta and his other friends. His eyes widened with delight when he saw Ludwig and Kiku by their lockers.

"Veh! Ludwiiig! Kikuuu!"

The Japanese boy firmly planted his feet on the ground. He turned to Ludwig and whispered, "Brace yourself."

"What?" Ludwig asked his friend. With no time to answer, Feliciano attacked Kiku in a hug. It took years for Kiku to get used to Feliciano's morning hugs. The first time it happened, Kiku blushed and roughly pushed the Italian off his body. Feli had whimpered and cried and asked why he rejected his hugs. Eventually, Kiku came to terms with the cultural differences between him and his Italian friend. It was clear that Ludwig would have the same problems.

When Feliciano hugged Ludwig, the German's face was colored like a field of roses. His muscles tensed and he gasped dumbly. His heart hammered in his chest mercilessly and he couldn't help but notice how incredibly warm his friend's body was. Feliciano recognized this reaction and pulled away. "Aw, you don't like my hugs?" he pouted cutely, hiding his sincere disappointment.

"U-um," Ludwig put his hands in his pockets and looked away. "I-it's not that it's just I-I'm just not used to it…" he coughed. Truth be told, a strong desire to embrace Feliciano had been building in his chest since yesterday. Of course, he would never admit that. Feli smiled. He found Ludwig's shyness was very cute.

Suddenly, they heard the front doors burst open. A large figure stood at the end of the hallway. The figure began to waddle down the hall. The children backed away toward their lockers and averted their gaze. They didn't exactly look scared, but rather… disgusted? As the figure came closer, Ludwig saw that it was a man. The man was tall and very overweight. He had white hair and a cold face, strolling down the hall liked he owned the place. Ludwig grimaced. "Who the hell is that?" he asked.

Feliciano giggled behind his hand. "That's Deacon Leonard." His smile disappeared rapidly. "He's not a nice man."

"He's not?" Ludwig looked at Kiku.

Kiku shook his head. "I do not normally speak down of others, but yes. He is not a nice man."

"I hate him," Feliciano growled. Ludwig was surprised at how low Feli's voice got. There was a fire in his eyes that worried him. "What exactly is a deacon anyway?" Ludwig tried to break the tension.

"A deacon is like a priest," Kiku spoke, "but he cannot perform a Mass. Deacons can also marry and have children, while a priest cannot." Ludwig nodded and looked back at the man.

"He and sister Katherine are kind of like Father Brooks' partner in crime," the fire did not leave Feli's eyes.

"Who?"

"Father Brooks. He's the pastor. I hate him, too. And Sister Katherine is the principal. I don't really hate her, but she annoys me." Just mentioning Father Brooks' name round Feliciano made the boy's blood boil. It was seldom that Feli didn't like someone, but it really took a lot for him to _hate _someone. Ludwig opened his mouth to say something, but was silenced b the judgmental stare of Deacon Leonard. Ludwig shifted his eyes around awkwardly and waited for the man to say something.

Deacon gave a very faint smile, but it wasn't a real smile. "You're the new kid from Germany, right?"

Ludwig nodded. He did not appreciate the man's tone of voice. It almost sounded sickened. "I'm Deacon Leonard," he held out a meaty hand. Ludwig forced a small smile and shook his hand. "Ludwig Beilschmidt, Deacon."

Deacon suddenly clasped his large hand on Ludwig's shoulder. He shook it roughly. _What the fuck? Stop touching me! _"You seem pretty muscular," Deacon said. "Trying out for any sports?"

Ludwig shifted his feet uncomfortably. "Uh, I don't even know what sports they have."

Struggling with his accent, the "th" in "they" came out as a "z." Deacon raised an eyebrow. "'Zey?' What kind of word is that?"

Ludwig's cheeks turned pink. "It's my accent," he muttered. The bell rang.

"Well, have a good day," Deacon patted Ludwig on the shoulder and walked away. Ludwig scowled. "Was für ein Arschloch," he whispered under his breath.

"See what I mean?" Feli asked. Ludwig nodded. He didn't know why he was in the school in the first place, but he hoped he wouldn't see Deacon Leonard's face anytime soon.

Later that afternoon, Ludwig had his first language class. He was glad to hear he would be learning Italian. He always loved the language. The way the vowels rolled off the tongue. It was so beautiful. Ludwig tried to learn a little on his own, and wasn't too bad at it. He was pretty good at conjugation and sentence structure. His problem was pronunciation. His accent made the lightest of words sound gruff. He walked into the classroom and saw Feliciano waving at him from across the room. Ludwig grinned and walked to his friend. The room had a map of Italy on the front chalkboard and an Italian flag pinned to the desk. The side chalkboards had lists of old composers. "Why is there music stuff?" Ludwig asked Feliciano.

Feliciano stopped trying to balance a pencil on his nose and answered his question. "This room is used for Italian class on Tuesdays and Thursdays and for music class on Fridays. Veh, you'll see the music teacher tomorrow."

"Is she nice?"

Feliciano and a few other students laughed. Ludwig looked around. "Was it something I said?"

"You'll see next week. She's on vacation now," a girl seated behind Ludwig said.

The classroom door opened and the teacher entered. A short woman with weird, curly brown hair with blonde highlights.

"Buon giorno, classe," she smiled.

The class stood up and most of the students rolled their eyes. "Buon giorno, Signora Lala." Ludwig's brows furrowed. _Her name is Mrs. Lala? Weird…_

"Come stai?" she asked.

In a mechanical way, the class answered, "Bene, grazie. E tu?"

"Stupendo, grazie. Sit, please," she spoke in English for the first time. Ludwig grew nervous. The class seemed so advanced! They talked in complete sentences. From the corner of his eye, he saw Mrs. Lala staring at him. He turned his head to look at her. "And you are Ludwig, right?" she asked. Ludwig nodded and remained silent. There was something off-putting about this lady, but he couldn't decipher what. She continued, "Do you have any previous language experiences, Ludwig?" A boy coming from Germany with a thick German accent. Seriously. She seriously wondered if he had any language experience? Was she that stupid?

"Ja," his tone come out a little cockier than intended. "I speak German."

"Oh, I tried to learn German. I couldn't get the grammar. Besides, I couldn't pronounce those sounds. It sounds like mucus."

Ludwig felt a little offended, but put on a smile. "Ja, I know."

"Well," she sat down at her desk. "I hope you will like learning Italian." She turned to face the class. "The rest of you," her tone became sharp. "Did you do your homework?" The class passed up pieces of paper to the front of the classroom. She counted the number of papers and looked up at her class. "Hey. William, Jarrod, Dominic, Ambria, where is your homework?"

"I left it at home," was the response of the three boys.

"Oh, I forgot to do it," Ambria said absentmindedly.

Mrs. Lala almost made a hissing sound and wrote their names down on a piece of paper. "I'll see you four after class."

In Ludwig's opinion, the whole class, for lack of better words, was bullshit. She handed out a booklet with a little Italian story inside. The last page had a very small Italian-to-English dictionary. Other than that, they were on their own. Ludwig looked around and saw his classmates just as confused as he was. All except Feliciano. Feliciano was writing away, his tongue stuck out of the side of his mouth in concentration. He stared at Feli in awe. How did he understand this? Everyone asked Feliciano what certain words meant or, better yet, to do it for them. Feli smiled brightly and said he was happy to help and wrote more than half of some kids' papers. Ludwig didn't appreciate the fact that they were using Feli like that, but Feli seemed oblivious. Ludwig didn't ask for any help. It didn't feel right. At the end of the class, Mrs. Lala said, "Whatever you did not finish here us for homework," The class groaned in irritation. "Remember!" she called as kids began filing out of the room. "Use ! Not the Google Translate!"

"Yeah, right," some kid said under their breath. Ludwig's head pounded. That was probably one of the worst classes he ever had. The teacher didn't teach and the material was incomprehensible. The students barely knew anything. He sighed and Feli hopped to his side. "Did you like the class?" he smiled.

"No," Ludwig grumbled.

Feli frowned. "Veh? Why? You don't like my language?"

Ludwig's eyes widened. "Oh, it's not that! Wait, you speak Italian?"

"Of course I do!" he giggled. "Can't you tell by my accent?"

Well, Ludwig felt stupid. "Oh, yeah," Ludwig mumbled embarrassedly. "I think Italian is a beautiful language. I do want to learn it, but she didn't even teach!"

"Hmm, I know. She's awful." Feli shook his head. "Brings disgrace to the language." Suddenly, Feli's amber eyes turned brighter. "Veh, you said you want to learn Italian? I could teach you!" he hopped up and down.

Ludwig grinned. "Hm. I need to work on my English first. I'm still having trouble with the grammar."

"Ugh, me too. I hate grammar." Feli began to skip.

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "Why are you skipping?"

"It's fun!" Feli beamed. "You should try it." Ludwig quickly declined. No way in hell would he prance down the hallway.

"Skipping again, Twinkletoes?" a voice hissed, immediately stopped Feliciano's skips. One of the members of Nicky's group, Vinny, smirked.

Feliciano sighed deeply. It always seemed like the other boys sensed when Feliciano was feeling a little too happy. "Please, Vinny. Leave me alone."

Vinny scoffed, his grey eyes flaring. "Did you just talk back to me, fag?" He roughly pushed Feliciano onto the floor. Ludwig gasped at the sight of his friend lying on the floor, whimpering. The breath he released came out as a growl. Ludwig firmly grabbed Vinny's arms and brought him forward, bring their faces deathly close. "Don't you _dare_ hurt him," Ludwig growled through clenched teeth. He let go and kneeled down to help Feliciano. Vinny made a sound of disgust. "Why the hell are you helping _that?_" Ludwig grew angrier as his friend was called a "that."

"Because," he lifted a still whimpering Feli to his feet. "He is my friend. If you touch him again I'll break all of your fucking teeth. Understood?"

Vinny smiled nastily. "Oh, really?" he pushed Ludwig as hard as he pushed Feliciano. It made Ludwig stumble back a smidgeon, but it did not make him fall or even trip. That extremely troubled the bully. This new kid looked strong. Too strong for his liking. Ludwig remembered advice his father had given him: _Sometimes it's better to just walk away._ Ludwig relaxed his muscles and sapphire eyes met forest green. "I do not want trouble. Leave me and Feliciano alone. Have a nice day." He subconsciously grabbed Feliciano's hand and quickly led the boy down the hall. They heard a cackle as they walked. "Ohhh, I see why you're standin' up for the little freak!"

Ludwig completely ignored the remark, even though it confused him slightly, and held Feliciano's hand tighter. He brought them to their lockers.

"Are you okay, Feli?" his anger washed away with a wave of concern.

Feli smiled. "Si, I'm okay. Thank you for helping me, Luddy."

Ludwig really did not care for that nickname, but let it be for now. "No problem." Feli grinned, but then it turned into a smirk. Ludwig looked at him curiously. "What?"

"You can let go of my hand now, Ludwig," his smirk widened. Ludwig blushed furiously and withdrew his hand faster than the speed of light. Feli hid his pink cheeks with his hand and giggled.

"It's nice to see you two are getting close," Elizaveta walked over with a smirk that looked remarkably like Gilbert's. Ludwig looked away and said nothing.

"Ludwig saved me from Vinny!" Feliciano exclaimed. "He pushed Luddy and he didn't even flinch! Veh, you're so brave!" he looked at Ludwig with admiration. Eliza laughed and Ludwig looked down at his feet.

The next day during lunch, Ludwig kept his face in his hands to hide his burning cheeks as Feliciano told the story to all of his friends; all of which gave Ludwig the same smirk. Not being to take anymore, Ludwig spoke. "You know, Vinny said something like 'Oh, that's why you're helping him.' I wonder what he meant by that?"

Feliciano, Elizaveta, Kiku, Arthur, and Francis sat in silence. Francis smiled. "Well, you _did_ take little Feli's hand as you walked away," he winked.

"Yeah!" Elizaveta laughed and Feli giggled. Ludwig sighed and knew he was blushing. "That's not the point," he spoke curtly.

"I think Francis-san is correct," Kiku spoke for the first time. They all looked at him curiously. "Well, if you took Feliciano-kun's hand, then he might think that you are gay as well." The whole table turned to the German and Ludwig and Feliciano immediately tensed, exchanging worried glances.

"Oh, well, uh…" he suddenly lost the ability to speak. The others raised their eyebrows. "Well, are you?" Arthur asked lowly and calmly. Ludwig looked up into their expectant eyes. _Well, the accept Feliciano,_ he thought, _so maybe they'll accept me?_ Ludwig sighed in defeat. "Ja…" This surprised his friends, but smiles appeared on their features.

"You and Feliciano should hook up!" Elizaveta clapped her hands together.

"Elizaveta!" Feliciano and Ludwig cried in unison. The two briefly exchanged glances and then blushed and looked away. The others looked at each other and gave knowing smiles, but said nothing more.

A few days passed and everything went pretty smoothly. The boys steered clear of Feliciano and Ludwig, only giving them dirty looks every now and then. "They're probably afraid of your big muscles!" Feli laughed. That was not true, they would discover later. Ludwig and Feliciano's relationship was, in Francis' opinion, full of sexual tension. "They are totally in love," he said to Arthur, who just rolled his eyes in return. Basically, Feli clung to Ludwig 24/7. Ludwig would often grow flustered and tell Feli not to hug him like that. It made Feliciano said that Ludwig didn't like his hugs. "He just needs time," Kiku told his friend reassuringly. "He seems very shy and confused about his emotions."

Throughout the week, Ludwig would see Feliciano staring at him from across the room. He would blush and pretend not to notice. When he told Gilbert about the random hugs each day, his older brother would laugh and say, "He likes you, West! When are you gonna make a damn move?"

"I don't like him!" Ludwig wailed one night. The blush on Ludwig's face completely obliterated that statement. Gilbert shook his head with his trademark smirk ever-present. "You are not a good liar when it comes to love, brother."

After school on Friday, Ludwig and Feliciano decided to walk home from school together again. Once again, Feli was in a conversation about something Ludwig couldn't really keep track of, something about pasta? When they neared Ludwig's house, Feli stopped talking and turned to Ludwig.

"Ludwig," his smile disappeared.

"Yes?" Ludwig looked at him skeptically.

Feli fixed his tie and bit his bottom lip nervously. "I…I just want to really thank you for helping me out earlier this week. It really means a lot," he blushed slightly. His heartbeat grew faster and the urge to hug Ludwig was growing.

"Please, it's no big deal," he blushed, too. "I couldn't just stand there and let you get hurt." _You're too cute, _as voice spoke in his head. Ludwig had to stop himself from yelling at the voice. He would look like a crazy person yelling in the middle of the sidewalk at someone that didn't even exist.

"Most people do," Feliciano said gravely.

"Hmph," Ludwig averted his gaze. "I guess you're right." Feliciano couldn't take it anymore. He stepped forward and hugged Ludwig, wrapping his arms around the taller boy's neck and putting his cheek on Ludwig's firm chest. It wasn't like the hugs he gave him before. No, it was more meaningful. It had more emotion. Ludwig blushed brilliantly, but slowly wrapped his arms around the smaller boy's back. Ludwig prayed that his brother or parents would step outside of their house and see him at this particular moment. Feli had to suppress a squeal of delight. Ludwig was finally hugging him back! He let go and giggled at the red flush gracing Ludwig's cheeks. Not thinking, Feliciano stood on his toes and gave a quick kiss to each of Ludwig's cheeks. Both of their eyes widened and they stared at each other. Ludwig's legs began to shake lightly. _D-did Feliciano just **kiss** me?_

"S-sorry!" Feliciano's eyes filled with tears of humiliation. "I'll see you on Monday!" he ran down the street. Ludwig just stood in the middle of the sidewalk with his hands holding his burning cheeks where Feliciano had kissed him, longing to feel those soft lips again.

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**Like I said, I'm heavily basing some characters on people in my school. Thankfully, the bullies are pure fiction. You'll see why I decided to introduce Deacon Leonard later. Please review~**


	4. Chapter 4

**Just so you know, I'm aware that the Italian was incorrect in the last chapter. That's what my Italian teacher actually taught us. We had our last Italian class today (finally!) and we'll never have to see her ugly face again. I actually found it amusing that a lot of you were surprised when I said I'm in 8th grade. I'm just curious; how old did you think I am? Like, 16? I don't know, I just thought that was funny.**

**Enjoy~**

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Awkward is an understatement. No, Monday morning was well beyond awkward. Neither told their friends about the little kiss on Friday afternoon. They didn't tell anyone. When Ludwig's parents frowned and asked what was wrong when Ludwig came through the door all red in the face, he didn't respond and walked silently to his room. His parents exchanged worried glances. Was his new school not right for him? Was he not making many friends? Gilbert knocked on Ludwig's door many times, but Ludwig always told him to leave him alone. Gilbert teased, asking if Ludwig was looking at his porn collection. Ludwig still barely responded. He said that he was tired and had a lot of homework (thought it was a Friday). Ludwig didn't sleep well that night. He was too hot. His cheeks were still tingling. And when he awoke from his short slumber, the sheets felt wet….Anyway, Ludwig was now grabbing his religion books from his locker. He was in a conversation with Kiku, but was a bit distracted. He only nodded in the conversation and didn't say anything. The Japanese boy, who always sensed the mood and refrained from speaking, noticed this.

"Ludwig-san?"

The German turned to the sound of his name. "Are you alright? You seem a bit off today."

Ludwig shook his head. "Eh, I'm okay. Just tired, I suppose. I only got about three hours of sleep last night." Kiku knew this wasn't the real reason why he was like this, but said nothing. Ludwig didn't want to tell anyone about this kiss from Feliciano. See, it's not that he distrusted his friends to keep a secret, but the fear was letting the tiny fact slip that it was one of the best moments of his life. And that he wanted more. A lot more. But, Kiku was a good friend. Maybe he could tell him?

"Uh, Kiku…can I tell you something? Will you keep a secret?"

"Of course, Ludwig. Whatever it is I promise not to tell anyone."

Ludwig gave a curt nod, his face growing warm. "Well, you've been friends with Feliciano more than I have. And…did he ever kiss you on the cheek?"

Kiku's brown eyes widened. "Kiss? No. He never did anything like that. Just hugs. Why do you ask?"

"Because," Ludwig played with the button on his sleeve, "He kissed both of my cheeks on Friday afternoon."

Kiku hid his surprise by simply nodding. "Hm, interesting. Very interesting, indeed."

"I mean…does he…you know."

Kiku considered this. "Hmm, well, he may. He does shower you with affection more than anyone else. Do you have the same feelings?"

Ludwig rubbed the back of his neck. "W-well…I just don't know…"

Feliciano was walking down the hall with Elizaveta, scared to go to his locker (which was right next to Ludwig's, in case you don't recall). He decided to tell Eliza about what happened. She was one of his closest friends, after all. She already knew about Feli's crush on Ludwig, anyway.

"Eliza?"

The Hungarian smiled and flashed her green eyes. Feli gulped and continued, "Can you keep a secret?"

Elizaveta almost looked offended. "Of course I can!" she said indignantly. "Haven't I always?"

"Si, si, I know. Well, on Friday afternoon…"

"Yes?" she urged him to go on. She resisted the urge to smile when she saw her friend's cheeks turn a faint shade of rose.

"Well, um, I walked home with Ludwig and…Well, I hugged him and he actually hugged me back!"

Elizaveta squealed. "Yes! Finally! Are-"

"But, that's not what I wanted to tell you," Feli silenced her. She looked at him, puzzled. "I kind of got carried away," he spoke barely above a whisper. "And I kissed both of his cheeks. And then I got scared and ran away….Veh, Elizaveta?"

The girl stared at him without saying a word. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and opened them again. "Feliciano… WHY THE FUCK DIDN'T YOU TELL ME SOONER?"

"Shh!" Feli raised his arms in the air, drawing even more attention from the passing students. "I didn't tell you," he spoke in a lower volume, "Because it's embarrassing! I don't know if I'll be able to look at him the same way without getting mortified!" he was close to tears.

Elizaveta frowned, and then grinned. "You know what you should do?"

Feli shook his head and wiped his glistening eyes. She looped their arms together. A thing about Feli and Eliza's friendship was that if you didn't know that Feli was gay, you would have thought they were boyfriend and girlfriend. But in reality, they were more like brother and sister. "You should act like it never happened."

Feliciano turned to her with a look of shock. "Veh? But wouldn't that make it more uncomfortable?"

"No!" she laughed. "If you go around not looking at each other or saying anything then it'll be awkward!"

Feli considered this. Well, he _did_ want to talk to Ludwig again without any awkwardness. And he certainly wanted to hug the muscular German again. He really liked Ludwig. He didn't want to lose him because of his own foolishness. He smiled. "Okay. I'll do that. Thanks."

Speaking of the German, they were approaching him and Kiku. Feli felt his heart start to race. "Remember what I said," Elizaveta whispered to Feli. He nodded, and then put on a huge smile.

"Heeeey! Ludwig! Kikuuu!"

Ludwig's cheeks immediately flushed at the sound of Feliciano's high-pitched voice. _Oh, no! Feliciano! What do I do? _His thoughts were interrupted when the Italian jumped on Ludwig's back like a koala. Ludwig gasped and grabbed Feli's legs to support him (he had done this before). Feli's cheeks were dusted a light pink. He hoped Ludwig wouldn't be angry with him.

"Oh, ah, hi," Ludwig muttered. "H-how are you?" he failed at trying to keep his voice steady.

"I'm happy!" Feli chirped in his ear. _And extremely nervous._

"As usual," Kiku smiled.

Feliciano "veh'd" and Elizaveta gave him a wink and walked away. Feliciano inhaled the scent of Ludwig's shampoo. It smelled like delicious apples. Yummy. He loved how soft those blonde locks were. It felt like silk. Feli climbed off Ludwig's back and skipped to his locker. Ludwig clutched his religion book and bible to his chest self-consciously. Was Feliciano going to say anything about it? Was he just going to pretend it never happened? Should they talk about it? Oh crap, he keeps staring at Feli!

Feli noticed his stare and smiled sheepishly. "Veh? Why are you staring at me, Luddy?"

"I have to get to class," Kiku quickly said and walked down the hall, leaving them alone. Ludwig scowled after Kiku. He just _had _to leave at that exact moment, didn't he? Ludwig turned back to his friend and averted his gaze.

"S-sorry. I didn't know I was staring…" He could hear his heartbeat in his ears. Why did he have to be so awkward?

Feli's light blush darkened and Ludwig's face was already a deep red. "It's okay." The bell rang. "Come on. Let's go to religion class."

Ludwig really didn't like Mrs. Tori. She was passionate about her faith, which isn't a bad thing, but she was crazy with it. If you disagreed about something, she would start to scream and take out her Bible. She went on and on about how much she loved Saint Theresa of the Little Flower one day. And she talked about her children. A lot. She also talked about the importance of going to Mass and that if you didn't, you would go to hell. Ludwig didn't believe that, but kept his mouth shut. Thankfully, she hadn't said anything about gays. Yet. Ludwig was writing in his religion book when he saw something black from the corner of his eye. He looked up to see a man dressed a black suit with a white collar. He recognized this man to be a priest. He was tall with tan skin that wrinkled near his ears. He had blue eyes that were wide. The priest was just standing in the doorway with a Bible and papers in one hand, smiling. Ludwig raised an eyebrow. His smile looked so creepy! Why the heck was he just standing in the doorway anyway?

Mrs. Tori smiled. "Good morning, Father."

The class stood up, "Good morning, Father Brooks. God bless you."

The priest's, Father Brooks', creepy smile widened. "Thank you and God bless you. Please be seated." The class sat down and Ludwig did the same. Wait…Father Brooks? Wasn't this one of the men Feliciano hated? Father Brooks walked to the center of the classroom where Mrs. Tori's brown chair was placed. He sat crossed-legged, making the students in the front of the classroom gag at the sight of his crotch near their faces. Father looked at Ludwig.

"You're Ludwig, right?"

Ludwig must have introduced himself about fifty times already. Seeing as this man was the pastor, Ludwig figured he better show respect. "Yes, Father."

"Well," he stood up and walked to Ludwig's desk, "I hope you enjoy your time here at Saint Monica School," he shook Ludwig's hand. Ludwig offered a small grin. Father went back to his disturbing position in the brown chair. He was a very strange looking man. He resembled an insect. He then launched into a very long rant about paying taxes and politicians. _Isn't this man supposed to be teaching us religion?_ "Trust me," Father went on, "You do not want the IRS showing up at your door!" The whole class was bored and sleepy. Mrs. Tori was infatuated with him. Ludwig felt his eyelids start to droop. He blinked rapidly and sat up in his chair. He didn't want to fall asleep in class, especially with the pastor there.

"Oh, and don't get me started about the media patronizing gay marriage."

Ludwig was now wide awake. His sapphire eyes widened and his heart began to pump a little faster.

"I mean," the man went on. "It's just so pointless." Ludwig felt his blood go hot. That son of a bitch! Who the hell was he to talk like that to a bunch of kids? Feliciano was gnashing his teeth together in the back of the classroom. He hated that man. He hates that man. He hates that man.

"Marriage is supposed to be-"

RING-A-LING. The bell rang, ended the period. Ludwig released a huge sigh of relief. Father Brooks smiled. "Well, we'll finish this next week. Have a nice day."

Ludwig darted from the room and sprinted to his locker. Feliciano was already there. The Italian slammed the books into his locker, growling the whole time. Ludwig opened his locker. "I can see why you hate him," Ludwig commented.

Feliciano shut his locker. "He's such an asshole," he growled. "He just has to rant about society every single time!"

Ludwig just hummed in agreement. "I was afraid he would bring up gay marriage."

"Whenever he does they pick on me more," Feli said quietly. There was no need to ask who "they" were. "I hope they don't come by."

Ludwig didn't know how to comfort people, so he just cleared his throat. "It's going to be okay." He played with the rim of his notebook and then asked, "Feli, are…are we going to talk about last Friday?"

Feli blushed instantly. "Uh," he put on a fake smile. "What is there to talk about? It was just two little kisses!" he laughed nervously.

The tips of Ludwig's ear turned red. "J-ja, but you shouldn't just give kisses out casually!"

"Veh?" Feliciano tilted his head to the side. God, why did he have to be like a little puppy? No, a kitten. Some kind of cute fluffy animal. "I gave you kisses because I like you!" Feli could feel his cheeks heating up, but continued. "What other reason do you give people kisses?"

Ludwig's palms were sweating and his legs were shaking ever so slightly. "B-b-but…uh…I have to get to class!" He ran to his next classroom. Feliciano frowned. Ludwig didn't like him back. He was just kidding himself from the start. No way a stoic, handsome German could like that ever like him. However, he still wanted to remain friends. Just friends…

Ludwig spent his entire social studies class staring at Mr. Jones. Damn, that man was attractive. He wouldn't exactly describe him as "dreamy" like most of the girls did, though. One other thing Ludwig did observe in the class was how Mr. Jones and Arthur teased each other endlessly. He could have sworn he had seen a blush on Arthur's face. _Maybe it's just from pure embarrassment. _The rest of his classes went alright, but that little Italian plagued his mind. Did Feliciano _like _him? It was so hard to tell with that flirty kid. But, even if they had mutual feelings for each other, Ludwig wouldn't know what to do with himself. He was never in a relationship before, and was afraid to start one. Especially with another boy in a Catholic school with a bunch of bullies hanging around and a homophobic priest.

Lunchtime came and Ludwig sat with his usual group of friends. Feliciano was sitting next to him, their arms occasionally touching. Electric sparks would run up their arms when that happened. Ludwig's face was red the entire time and he was sweating, which showed through his white collar. Francs noticed Ludwig was quiet since he sat down. Something had to be wrong with him.

"Ludwig, what's wrong? Can't handle sitting next to Feliciano," he winked. "Not feeling well, eh? You look red." The whole table looked at Ludwig and Feliciano became worried. "Ludwig! Are you okay? Are you sick?" Feliciano jumped onto Ludwig lap and placed the back of his hand on Ludwig's forehead.

"F-Feliciano! Enough of this!" he removed the smaller boy's hand. He felt Feli's butt dangerously close to his crotch. This was a no-no. "I'm fine, okay?"

Feli sniffed. He slid off his friend's lap and silently sat back in his seat. "Sorry," he twisted his fork in his pasta. He was just worried! Why did he have to mess up so much? Kiku whispered something to Elizaveta, which made her smirk. An awkward silence fell among the friends until-

"Start eating your lunch and don't talk as much," a voice said through what sounded like a microphone. Ludwig looked around. "Where the hell is that coming from?"

His friends chuckled. "It's Sister Katherine," Francis explained, "The principal." When Ludwig looked near the front of the cafeteria, he saw a short, fat old woman sitting in a blue chair with a microphone. She watched over the children like a hawk.

"The principal? Oh yeah, I remember briefly talking with her. Why is she down here telling us to eat our lunch?"

"Because it makes her feel important," Arthur said. "No other explanation."

"She and Father Brooks run the place," Feli said through bites of pasta. Ludwig didn't really know what Father Brooks and Sister Katherine were really about, but he didn't like them. Not one bit. Ludwig rolled his eyes when he saw Deacon Leonard. Great. The weird-ass questionable pedophile who grasped his shoulder last week. He was doing the same exact thing to another boy. And then another boy. Why only boys…? Sister

Katherine spoke through the microphone again, "You have five more minutes, five more minutes….Three more minutes…Quiet down…"

Since their music class was cancelled last Friday, there were making it up this afternoon. Ludwig was paired with Feliciano again (not that he was complaining). They walked into the Italian/music room. The lights were off and everyone was talking and laughing. They sat next to each other near the front of the class. When they sat down, Ludwig noticed the teacher was already there. A woman with blonde hair and an ugly sweater with a plaid skirt. She just stood at the front of the classroom with a _creepy _smile on her face. Much creepier than Father Brooks. Ludwig's eyes fell to the teacher's large stomach. He leaned over and whispered to Feli, "Is she pregnant or just overweight?"

Feli giggled. "Veh, we don't know! We've been trying to figure that out for weeks."

Ludwig gave a small smile. "Hm. Well, what's her name?"

"We don't know that either…"

Ludwig stared at Feliciano blankly. "How can you not know your teacher's name?"

"She never said it! She doesn't even teach!"

The music teacher walked to the computer. She went on YouTube and played some video about jazz composers. She looked at the class and frowned, then smiled again.

Ludwig grimaced. "She's creepy."

Feli just giggled in response and folded his arms on top of the desk and put his head down, closing his eyes.

"Feli, you can't fall asleep in class," Ludwig scolded.

Feli shrugged. "Look around you. Everyone's doing whatever they want." That was true. Some people were throwing wads of paper at each other while others were just in conversation. The music teacher was just sitting at her desk, smiling at everyone.

"Hmph, I guess you're right."

Feliciano didn't respond. He was already asleep. Ludwig stared at him in awe. How could he fall asleep in five seconds? He wished he could sleep that easily. Since Feli was the only friend Ludwig had in this class, he didn't have anyone to talk to. So, he was just staring at the fine details of Feliciano's sleeping face. _Tch, because that's not creepy at all. _His chest swelled with warmth as he stared at his crush…._Did I just think 'crush?' _No. No. No. He did not have a crush on Feliciano. No. He was just slightly attracted to him. Yes. There was a difference. They were just friends. Nothing more. His heart wasn't fluttering at the way Feliciano's curl always stayed perfectly in place. Or the fact that his long eyelashes rested on his cheeks.

Feli sighed in his sleep and shifted. "Mmm…Ludwig…"

Okay. The rapid heartbeat and blush on Ludwig's cheeks were not because Feliciano is dreaming of him. No. He just feels hot. It's just a little warm in here, that's all. And the reason why his hand is reaching out to touch Feliciano's? Well, he's bored! Why their fingers were intertwined? Boredom. Yep.

Ludwig's inner turmoil was disrupted by some strange whistling sound. Feli's honey eyes blinked open slowly. He sat up and looked to the front of the class. Standing there was the music teacher, playing her flute. Feli went to hold his ears when he realized there was pressure on one of his hands. He looked down at his left hand to see it being held by someone else. His eyes looked at the hand and traveled up the arm to meet Ludwig's face, which had an expression of disgust. Feli kicked his feet excitedly under the rest and blushed.

The class stared at the music teacher play a few scratchy notes from her flute and then stop. _Why the hell did she just randomly pull out her flute? _Some of the students stood up and clapped saying, "Oh! Wonderful! Encore!"

The music teacher laughed in a manly voice, "Hurhurhurhurhur!"

Ludwig turned to Feliciano. "You're awake?" Feli nodded happily. "Okay then. What the fuck was that laugh she did?"

"She does that a lot," he smiled. "She'll just randomly laugh."

They heard it again: "Hurhurhurhurhur!"

"Like that," Feli said. He then smiled sweetly. "Veh, you have warm hands, Ludwig."

"Warm hands…?" He looked down to see his fingers laced with Feliciano's. "Oh!" he jumped back in his chair. "S-s-sorry!"

Feli felt brave. If Ludwig held his hand while he was asleep, then there must have been _something _there, right? Why else would he do that? He took Ludwig's hand, ignoring the stuttering coming from the German. "No, it's okay. Let's stay like this."

Seeing as every student was wrapped in their own business, Ludwig nodded. "Okay," he said quietly. Feli scooted his chair a little closer to Ludwig's, squeezing the larger boy's hand. Ludwig's face was the color of rubies, but he squeezed back. Feli purred and watched whatever random video the music teacher had playing. Feli had the desire to kiss Ludwig's hand, but resisted. Ludwig had the desire to embrace Feliciano, but resisted. Little did they know there were multiple pairs of eyes watching them.

* * *

**Ahh, you met some more fabulous members of my life. The pastor, principal, and music teacher are real. ****I'll be using real things these people said. **And yes, the music teacher laughs really weird. Actually, my school just held a ceremony for our pastor because he has been a pastor for 25 years. We had to sing a corny song:

**_God bless Saint *****_ (I won't put that name of my school), _school of our youth! Here we learn how to live, to love God's law, to seek God's truth._**

**There's a lot more, but I don't remember. Awful, right?**

**Please review~**


	5. Chapter 5

**I have returned! Sorry I didn't update sooner, but I was busy playing video games. (Silent Hill 2 is one of the best games ever). Thanks for the reviews and I LOVE the reviews saying you don't like Father Brooks! **

**Well, enjoy!**

* * *

After school that day, Feliciano asked Ludwig if he would like to come over his house so they could do homework together. "I don't understand it! And I think my grandpa will like you a lot, veh!" Ludwig reluctantly agreed, knowing he would feel very awkward in front of Feli's family members. The two had a strong desire to hold each other's hands since that really strange music class. An unrequited desire, at least for now. When they left the school, they were totally wrapped up in their own little world in a conversation only they seemed to understand. Yet again, they did not notice the pairs of eyes watching them. Elizaveta and their other friends knew something must have gotten them closer in such a small amount of time, but they figured they would ask the next day. Elizaveta was very happy. The two friends reached Feliciano's house and stopped at the front door. Feliciano reached into his pants pocket and fished for his house key. "Veh, it's around here somewhere…" Ludwig felt anxious. What if Feliciano's family didn't like him, and ordered him to leave and never speak another word or steal another glance of their dear Feliciano ever again? As you can tell, Ludwig hated meeting new people, especially the family of his friends.

Feli made a noise of excitement when he found his house key. He unlocked the front door and stepped inside. Ludwig's ocean eyes scanned the room. The living room was fairly large and decorated in an elegant, classic style. There were various paintings of sites that must have been in Italy, Ludwig suspected. The paintings were very beautiful, and Ludwig was confused to see the artist left no signature on the paintings. Strange, but he didn't feel the need to ask about it at the moment.

"Nice house," he commented while still looking at the paintings.

Feli smiled. "Thank you. My grandpa designed it himself."

"Really? It seems professional."

"The Vargas family is artistic!" Feli laughed. "We all have a special talent."

"Feli, is that you?" a voice called.

"Si, Grandpa! I brought a friend with me!"

Ludwig gulped nervously. Oh shit. Time to meet the family. Wait, why is he freaking out so much? It's not like he's in a relationship with the kid! When a man stepped into the living room, Ludwig was very surprised. The man was tall and rather muscular with a small amount of facial hair. His eyes were the color of Feliciano's. He looked like he was in his 30s. _This is his grandfather? _

"Grandpa, this is my new friend, Ludwig. Ludwig, this is my grandpa."

The older man smiled. "Hello, Ludwig. Welcome to our home. You look pretty familiar, what's your last name?"

Ludwig was not surprised to see that Feli and his grandfather both talked at rapid speed. His grandfather's Italian accent was stronger than Feli's. "My last name? Beilschmidt."

"No way! I think I know your grandfather! No, I'm positive I do! You look almost exactly like him!"

"Oh, really?" Ludwig became interested. Maybe that explained why his grandfather knew some Italian?

"Hey, think about it!" Feli chirped. "Grandpa is friends with your grandpa and now you and I are friends! Cool, huh?"

Ludwig allowed himself to smile a little. "Hm, yes. Cool."

Roma smiled, but his eyes seemed to be looking somewhere else. He came out of his daze and looked up at the teenagers. "Are you two hungry? You want something to eat?"

"Yes, please!" Feli jumped up and down repeatedly. "What kind of pasta will we have tonight?"

"You'll see when it's ready," Roma began to walk out of the room. "It might take a little while to cook, so I'll call you when it's ready."

"Okay!" Feliciano was still bouncing.

Ludwig cleared his throat. "Um, Feliciano, shouldn't we start homework? That is the reason why I came here…"

Feli stopped bouncing and his large eyes pooled with tears. "You d-don't want to spend time with me?" his bottom lip quivered.

Crap. Ludwig had to choose his words carefully around Feliciano. "That's not it," he said at once. "I do want to spend time with you, but we should really get started. You don't want to wait until too late."

Feli's tears were gone and his smile was there again. "You're right. Come on, let's go to my room."

Ludwig was not comfortable with not only being in the household of his crush, but being alone in his in his crush's bedroom _with _his crush? Did he mention that Feliciano was his crush? No? Well, now you know. Ludwig wanted to run home and lock himself in his room. Stay isolated and alone. Anything but this. Anything but falling for another boy. Anything. He wanted this fear to disappear. It was eating at him. Why was he now looking at Feliciano's wispy hair with warmth in his chest? A hand waved in front of Ludwig's eyes and he jumped. Feli was looking at him with concerned eyes.

"Ludwig? Are you alright? You just completely spaced out."

The other teen blinked a few times and then nodded. He hadn't even noticed that they were upstairs. "Yeah, sorry. I'm okay."

"If you say so." Feli opened the door to his room and they went inside. The room was very messy. It had miscellaneous papers and articles of clothing scattered on the floor. Ludwig's OCD was threatening to make him clean up every inch of that room, but he refrained. He didn't want to be rude. When Ludwig stopped looking at the clutter, he realized Feliciano's walls were decorated with pictures. Beautiful drawings to be exact. Most of the drawings were pictures of kittens or other animals, but some were pictures of people. Ludwig recognized one to be Feli's grandfather. He saw another picture that had a boy who resembled Feli, but Ludwig could tell it wasn't him. Maybe his older brother? The pictures were so realistic that Ludwig couldn't stop the gasp that escaped his lips.

"Wow."

Feli smiled sheepishly and his cheeks were dusted a light rose. "You like them?"

"Feliciano," a set of wide blue eyes met brown. "Did you draw these?"

"Of course I did, silly! Why else would I have them in my room if I didn't draw them?"

Ludwig looked at the pictures again, then back to his friend. "Feliciano, these are incredible!" The thought of the hyperactive Italian actually sitting down to concentrate on drawing such a beautiful picture made Ludwig's heart pump for some odd reason.

Feli's blush grew darker. "Thank you, Ludwig. They're really nothing special…"

"Are you serious? They're so damn realistic! I can't draw to save my life!" Feli giggled at the thought of Ludwig trying to draw a picture, and then getting frustrated and crumpling the paper up and throwing it against a wall.

"Like I said," Feli looked at his feet. "We all have a talent. Those paintings downstairs? My older brother painted them."

"Woah, really?" The shocked expression on the normally stoic German's face was absolutely priceless.  
"Yes," Feli laughed. "You seem so shocked!"

"Because they're so amazing. The only thing my family is good at is engineering."

"We can't fix anything to save our lives. We always have to call a repairman because we just wind up breaking it some more."

Ludwig chuckled. "I can imagine."

They opened their schoolbags and removed their books. The got started right away, or at least tried. Feli got distracted at every little thing every five seconds. Ludwig face-palmed about 6 times in the course of 30 minutes.

"Dinner's ready!" Roma called up the stairs.

Feli jumped up from the ground and stepped on his books. "Finally! Let's go!"

Feli's grandpa prepared a scrumptious ravioli dinner with various sauces and a fresh roll of bread and a stick of butter. Ludwig put a hand over his stomach, hoping it wouldn't grow loud enough for the others to hear. Roma smiled, "Enjoy!"

Feli started to stuff his face with pasta and decided on having a full conversation with his grandfather about school at the same time. Sauce dripped down his chin and Ludwig rolled his eyes. He could be so damn messy! Ludwig wasn't a very big pasta fan, but he had to admit that the ravioli was nothing short of delicious. They heard the front door open and close. The sound of keys being thrown onto the floor was heard and Feli clapped excitedly.

"Big brother is home!" He then sprung up from his chair like a little kid and collided with his older brother, Lovino. The two Italians sat on the floor, both rubbing their heads and the older cursing up a storm.

"Damn it, Feli! Watch where the hell you're going!"

"Sorry, Lovino," Feli got up and held out a hand to help his brother. Lovi accepted the help and was lifted to his feet. Once he was standing up straight again, his cold eyes glared at Ludwig, who shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

"Who the fuck is this?" the words came out like venom.

Roma frowned. "Now Lovino, don't be so rude to someone you've just met. This is Ludwig, Feliciano's friend."

Lovino made a sound of disgust. "A German," he muttered under his breath.

Ludwig raised a blonde eyebrow. "Uh, hi."

"Hi," Lovino mumbled out. Ludwig did not like this guy at all. Granted he just met the guy, but with that said, he was already being a total jerk. He noticed that Feliciano and his brother looked a lot alike, but Lovino wasn't nearly as attractive. Maybe it was his cold personality that turned him off. He didn't know. The point was that he liked Feliciano a lot better and really didn't want to see much of Lovino.

"Lovi!" Feli whined and flailed his arms. "Don't be mean to my friend!"

"Whatever," the older rolled his eyes. "I'm going to my room, I'm freaking exhausted."

"From your marvelous night with Antonio?" Feli smirked. Feli and Roma laughed as Lovino went red as a tomato. Ludwig just ate his pasta awkwardly, not knowing who the heck Antonio was.

"BASTARD!" Lovino yelled. "I'LL KILL YOU!" Having broken up his grandchildren in the past, Roma was already holding Lovi by his arms to hold him back from tackling Feliciano.

"That's enough," he said sternly. "To your room, Lovino."

Lovino muttered more curses under his breath and then left the room and closed his bedroom door with a booming _SLAM. _Feli laughed and sat back down in his chair.

A few minutes later, Feliciano and Ludwig finished eating and went back up to Feli's room to complete their homework. "Your brother sure is….interesting," Ludwig said once they went inside.

"Yeah," Feli smiled. "He's really good at heart. One thing I learned about him is that when in doubt, mention his boyfriend, Antonio. It always makes him blush. Veh, he blushes almost as much as you do!"

"Feli!" Ludwig blushed.

"See?" Feli laughed. "But yeah, as you can see being gay kind of runs in our family."

"Hmph. My brother is one of the biggest jackasses of all time and constantly tries to get laid. It usually ends with girls punching him in the face and walking away. He likes this one girl, but tortures her so much that she uses a frying pan against him."

"Your brother sounds so funny!" Feli opened his math book.

Ludwig followed suit. "Oh, ja. Freaking hilarious."

Feli was sprawled out on the floor so Ludwig had to lie on Feli's bed. For some reason, lying on Feli's bed almost made Ludwig blush. _I need to stop freaking out over the smallest things. _

With most of the subjects in school, Feliciano could eventually figure out the answer if he focused. Math was not one of those subjects. It didn't matter how hard he tried; he just could not comprehend geometry. Feli looked up from his blank worksheet to see if Ludwig was having just as much trouble. His hopes were crushed when he saw Ludwig tapping his pencil in concentration, and then making a small smile of satisfaction when he wrote down his answer.

"How the heck do you understand this?" Feli put a hand on his throbbing head.

Ludwig looked up from his glasses. "The formula is easy to follow."

"I don't get it at all," Feli felt stupid and very frustrated.

Ludwig got off the bed and crouched down to Feli on the floor. "Alright, what don't you understand?"

"Everything." he admitted.

Ludwig spent the next ten minutes going through the entire lesson with Feliciano. At the end, Feli completed his work and was bubbling with excitement. "I get it! I actually get math! Yes! Thank you, Luddy!"

Ludwig smiled. "No problem. Just remember ton take it one step at a time."

"Okay!" Feli's eyes sparkled. _He's so smart! He looks like a teacher with those glasses, too._

Ludwig averted his eyes to try to prevent the blush from spreading on his cheeks. "Hmm, well, we're done everything. So, uh, I think I should go home now."

He moved to get up but was stopped when Feli grabbed his arm. "Aww, you won't stay?" he pouted.

"I think I should go because my parents might be worried. It's getting a little late and I haven't called them or anything."

Feli sighed. "Oh, okay. I'll walk you to the door then." Feli got up but didn't let go of Ludwig's arm. Ludwig looked down at Feli's hand and coughed awkwardly. Feli let go and muttered an apology, both teenagers missing the warmth from the other.

* * *

He and Feli walked downstairs and they walked past Roma.

"Oh, thank you for having me over and making dinner, Mr. Vargas," Ludwig said as he reached the door. His parents always taught him and his brother the best manners. It wasn't his parents' fault that Gilbert had as much manners as a rhinoceros.

Roma smiled. "Anytime."

Feli smiled. He was glad Grandpa liked Ludwig. "Bye, Ludwig."

"Bye, Feliciano. See you tomorrow." He walked out the door and headed home.

Feli shut the front door behind him and slumped against it. Roma smiled, reading the look on his grandson's face. "You like him, don't you?"

Feli nodded dreamily. Roma chuckled. "He seems like a nice boy. He reminds me a lot of his grandfather."

"Is the German bastard gone?" Lovino came down the stairs.

Feli frowned. "Lovi, please don't be mean to Ludwig. He's really nice."

"Tch. Sure. And pigs fly. Why was he here anyway?"

"We were doing homework together in my room and I needed help-"

"THAT POTATO BASTARD WAS IN YOUR ROOM?"

Feli cowered. "Yes," he answered quietly. "We were doing homework. Nothing else."

"CHE PALLE!" He threw his hands over his head and stormed into the kitchen. Feli and Roma exchange glances and shook their heads. Feliciano went up to his room and collapsed on his bed. He smiled. It had been a very nice day. He snuggled into his pillow and was more than pleased to find that it smelled of Ludwig's cologne. _Mmm, I really like him._

* * *

The next day, Ludwig was tapping his foot out of boredom in his religion class. Mrs. Tori was going on about something. He didn't know. He put his brain back into focus.

"In this chapter," she said louder, sensing the class' disinterest, "We will be covering some touchy subjects. They include stuff like sex, masturbation, and homosexuality."

Well, that sure woke Ludwig up. He felt a pang of nervousness and annoyance. Nervousness was for an obvious reason. He felt annoyance because that religion book just _had _to bring it up, didn't they? And then of course there was that Father Brooks who almost went off last week about it. Then he remembered. _Aw shit. _He would be coming to the classroom again this week! The glorious bell rang and the students went out of the room. He met Feli and Kiku at his locker. "Hi," he smiled at them.

They greeted him back with smiles. "Ludwig," Feli bounced for no apparent reason. "Wanna come over again after school today?"

He frowned. "I can't, Feli. I'm trying out for the baseball team."

"Oh?" Kiku asked. "You don't seem to be too interested in after school activities, what made you change your mind?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I like playing sports. I'll just try it out and see how I like it."

The tryouts were at 3:15 in the school's gym. There were boys trying out both the same age as and younger than Ludwig. He sighed in irritation when he saw the group of assholes who bullied Feli. He chose to completely ignore their stares. He didn't know why they were staring, but he had to concentrate on trying to hit the ball with the bat. It was not working out too well. He hit the ball a few times, but it wasn't enough.

"Beilschmidt," Coach Orlando called him over. Ludwig attentively walked to the coach.

"Yes, sir?"

"You're a little shaky on hitting," she said. "But you're strong and have potential. Why don't you try pitching?"

He nodded and took over for the pitcher, some boy in 9th grade. _It's just like playing catch with Vatti, _he thought to himself, _except I could get hurt this time. _The person up to bat was Nicky.

"Look who it is," he heard him say to his little posse. "Feliciano's new friend." He said the word "friend" with such disgust. Ludwig had to keep himself from growling. Bastard. He'll hit him in the head with the baseball. The background melted away and he was only staring at the strike zone and Nicky. His lip twitched in anger toward the boy and he threw the ball. Nicky's hazel eyes blinked stupidly, not knowing what happened.

"Dude!" Vinny shouted. "You missed that thing by a mile!"

Nicky cursed under his breath and readjusted his bat. "I won't this time."

Ludwig's lips curved into a small smile. He loved a challenge. Once again, the ball flew past Nicky and into the glove of the catcher.

"What are you doing?" one of the other boys yelled.

Nicky was fuming now. His eyes met Ludwig's. "Bring it on, faggot," he hissed low enough only for Ludwig to hear. Ludwig threw the ball so fast that he didn't even think to aim for the strike zone. Nicky hit the ball and began to run. Ludwig jumped up and caught the ball in his glove. Nicky stopped dead in his tracks to glare at Ludwig. Ludwig smiled. _Arschloch. _Ludwig struck out two batters and only let two hits slide. At the end of the tryouts, Coach Orlando was smiling at him approvingly.

"You were great," she said. "I won't have the results up until tomorrow, but you have nothing to worry about."

He smiled. "Thank you." When he was out of the gym and walking the halls, he felt a push on his back and almost fell on his face. He regained his footing and quickly turned around to see Vinny, Nicky, and three other boys with clenched fists. Ludwig scowled and crossed his arms.

"May I help you?"

"You trying to make a fool out of me, queer?" Nicky spat.

"What makes you think I'm queer?"

"You were holding Feliciano's hand," one of the others, Joey, spoke up for the first time.

"And?"

"And?" Vinny laughed. "Well that makes it pretty obvious, huh?"

Ludwig swallowed and tried to keep his rising temper. "My sexuality is none of your business."

"Then you admit it!" Nicky said triumphantly.

_If Feliciano has to go through bullying,_ Ludwig thought as he inhaled slowly, _then so do I. _"That's right," he breathed. "And there's nothing you can do about it. Leave Feliciano alone or I'll shove my foot up your gut?"

"I don't speak Spanish!" Joey said.

"Idiot, I speak German."

"It's all the same! Ha! You're protective of him? Are you two _dating?_"

"No," he answered calmly. "Even if we were, once again, it's none of your business." His phone vibrated in his pocket. He grabbed it and read a text message from his father saying that he was waiting outside in the car. Ludwig gave a smile that secretly frightened the jerk-offs. "I have to go. Goodbye." He walked out of the school and got into his father's car.

He sent a text message to Feliciano:_ They know I'm gay._

When Feli read it, he needn't ask who _they_ were. He shook his head and texted back: _We'll get through it. I promise._

* * *

**I actually love to write the bad guys in stories. I think it's the funnest part. Sorry if this chapter didn't have a lot of fluff. I'm actually finishing this 1 in the morning.**

**Please review~**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry this took so long! I had exams all week (not that I actually studied...) and I had to practice for a stupid piano recital that was last Sunday. Speaking of exams, I got the highest grade in the class on the English exam :D Story time!**

**My sister: By the way, how big is Luddy?**

**Me:...I don't know, Mia. They don't tell you _that. _**

**My sis: Wait, I didn't mean it that way!**

**Mom: *turns around and looks at us like wtf and turns away***

**Enjoy!~**

* * *

Gilbert nodded slowly, taking the new information in, frowning. "So," he said to Ludwig, "What are you going to do? You don't know how far those dicks will go."

"I don't know," Ludwig leaned against the doorframe of his older brother's room. "That's the problem. I don't know if I'll be able to just ignore them or if I'll have to be cautious."

"You can probably beat the shit out of every one of them."

"Maybe, but it's four against one."

"There are four?" Ludwig detected a hint of worry in Gilbert's voice.

Ludwig nodded. "There was five yesterday, but that kid doesn't really hang around with the rest of them. I think he just showed up for the 'fun.'" He folded his hands behind his back and began to pace the floor. It was another thing he did when he was anxious. Gilbert kicked his feet on the edge of his bed. "It's not really me I'm worried about though," he started to pace a little faster. "It's Feliciano. He barely has any muscle and could easily be beaten. Besides the lack of physical strength, he cries so easily. He's vulnerable. That's why they love to pick on him."

"Well, then that's when you'll have to be awesome and save the day!" Gilbert smiled.

"I'm not Superman," he said curtly.

"Pfff. Batman is way better."

"Forget the superheroes!" he yelled. Gilbert flinched at the sudden rise in his brother's temper. "Sadly, Batman isn't going to fly in and save Feli if he's in trouble!"

Gilbert shifted his eyes around the room. "…..Batman can't really fly…."

"I DON'T CARE!" he stopped pacing to stare fire into his brother. Gilbert laughed nervously and reached over to pet Gilbird. The little chick chirped in delight. After a moment of silence, Gilbert sighed loudly. "I told you to make sure no one found out. Why didn't you deny it?"

"I promised Feli that I would stay by his side," he replied hotly. "They would find out eventually."

"Alright, calm your balls."

Ludwig groaned in annoyance and ran his hand through his hair, messing up the gel a bit. "I thought that Catholic school is supposed to have the utmost discipline. Isn't that why I went there in the first place?"

"Yeah, but I guess the rule doesn't apply when it comes to gays."

Ludwig smiled grimly. "Hm, yeah, because you know, I'm going to Hell."

Gilbert stood up from his bed. "Don't say that. You and I both know that's a bunch of bullshit."

"I know," Ludwig put his hands in his pockets. Gilbert found out his brother was gay 5 years ago; when Ludwig was twelve and he was fifteen. Ever since then, he _never _used the phrase "that's so gay" or used the "f" word (not "fuck"). It's not that he didn't accept gays before, but his brother made him become brutally aware how they were no different than he.

"Remember what I told you when we were younger?" Gilbert asked. "About me beating the living shit about anyone who made fun of you?"

"Of course."

"Well, do you want me to beat the living shit out of those jerk-offs?"

Ludwig smiled, slightly touched by his brother's concern. "My answer is the same as it was back then: I need to fight my own battles."

"You need an ally to win the war," he winked. "And I highly doubt your little boyfriend can help. No offense."

Ludwig kicked Gilbert in the shin, not hard enough to really hurt. "He's not my boyfriend," he mumbled and felt his ears turn pink.

"Whatever you say," Gilbert smirked. "But I already made a bet with Tony that you two are going to hook up by the end of the school year."

"You made a bet?" he slapped Gilbert hard across the shoulder. Gilbert hissed in pain and rubbed his pale skin where a red spot was forming. "Wait, who the hell is Tony?"

"Ouch…He's my new friend I met at a nightclub. He's Spanish."

"Great, now you have new a new drinking buddy." He turned to the door. "Well, I'm going to do homework. See you later."

"Ja, later." When Ludwig left the room, Gilbert went back to his bed and stared up at the ceiling. _Damn, West, what the hell am I gonna do with you? _He shook his head and Gilbird made a sound of sadness.

* * *

Feliciano got up early the next morning. He wanted to see Ludwig as soon as possible. He usually made it to school about five minutes before he needed to be in class. Five minutes of talking to Ludwig wasn't enough today. He sprinted to school and made it a full fifteen minutes before the morning bell. He smiled in accomplishment. Knowing his German friend was always punctual, he wasn't surprised to see Ludwig already at his locker. He ran down the hall, almost tripping over his own two feet in the process. "Ludwig! Hey! Ludwig!"

Ludwig braced himself for the morning hug, but was shocked when he did not get one. Feli simply stopped in front of him and panted to catch his breath. "Hi."

"Hi. Why did you run?"

"I wanted to talk to you," he walked around to his locker. "Aren't you scared?"

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "Of what?"

"_Them!_" Feli scream-whispered (you all know that's possible). "What if they beat you up? Vandalize your house? They'll do something!"

Ludwig chuckled. "I'm not afraid of them." That really wasn't a lie. He wasn't afraid. In a certain way, he found them kind of amusing.

Feli stared at Ludwig with round eyes. "Not afraid? How?"

"I don't know," Ludwig grabbed his Bible from his neatly kept locker. "I'm just not."

"I would be _petrified. _Veh, I still am!" he shivered.

Ludwig frowned. "I know….But it'll be okay."

"How do you know?" Feli grabbed his Bible from his messy locker.

Ludwig closed his locker in silence. How did he know? Feliciano stared at Ludwig with some annoyance. "Well, tell me. How the heck do you know? 'Cause I would sure like to know."

Ludwig blinked in surprise. "God, I don't know! What am I supposed to say? That we're in deep shit? That we don't know what they're capable of?"

"Um, is everything okay?" Kiku asked timidly from behind Ludwig. Ludwig turned around and put on his poker face.

"Good morning, Kiku. Yes, everything is fine. Thank you for asking," he stated calmly.

"No it's not!" Feli whined. "It's not okay! They found out, Kiku. About Ludwig."

Kiku nodded and opened his locker. "I would be careful if I were you," he said quietly. "That's to both of you. If they….misinterpret your relationship."

Feli tilted his head to the side (making Ludwig look away and blush). "Our relationship?"

Kiku averted his coffee eyes. "You two are a little close…." He muttered something in Japanese that made the Europeans look at each other. Feli shrugged. "I don't understand either," he whispered.

"Anyway," Ludwig took control of the conversation again. "We're just good friends. N-nothing more."

"Right," Feli sighed quietly. "Nothing more."

* * *

As usual, the first class Ludwig and Feliciano had was religion. Mrs. Tori had three cups of coffee and was disturbingly hyper. "Now!" she yelled. "We're going to learn the 27 books of the New Testament!" Everyone groaned and rolled their eyes. "It'll be fun! I have a song for it."

"Oh God," a boy put his hand on his face.

She turned to him sharply. "Don't take the Lord's name in vain!"

"Fine. Oh gosh."

"That's better! Now then, you already know the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles, right?"

"Yes," they said collectively.

"That leaves 22 books to go! Statistics show that teaching things through song can help you learn. So, we're going to take the first syllable of every book and sing it. Here we go: _Ro-co-co, gal-eph-phi-co, te-te-tim-tim-ti, phil-he-jam, pet-pet-jo-jo-jo-jude, rev._ What does that stand for?" The class was in silent horror. "Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon, Hebrews, James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude, and the Book of Revelation. You're going to have a test on it next week so make sure you memorize that."

"WHAT?" the class cried in exasperation.

"Yes!" she nodded. "Let's sing!"

Ludwig looked at everyone singing and smirked. He didn't really like this class, but it was definitely lively. He saw Feli singing with an enthusiastic smile. Then out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure standing in the doorway. But this time it wasn't Father Brooks. Ludwig's smirk disappeared and his face twisted in disgust. Deacon Leonard was standing in the doorway (it was a miracle that he could fit) staring at everyone. When the class stopped singing, Mrs. Tori looked at the doorway and smiled. "Good morning, Deacon."

Everyone stood up. "Good morning, Deacon Leonard. God bless you."

"Good morning," he answered with no smile. "Please be seated."

They sat down and Feli and Ludwig exchanged annoyed glances. _This should be fun, _Feli put his head down and closed his eyes, not caring about what Deacon had to say at all.

"I'm here because Father Brooks is doing the bills," Deacon said to Mrs. Tori.

She nodded. "We have to start planning his jubilee." She turned to her class. "We'll be having a jubilee for Father Brooks either Friday or Monday of next week."

"For what?" someone asked.

"He will be celebrating twenty-five years as a priest," Deacon said. Ludwig sighed in irritation. That's just great. He would have to honor a man he despised.

Deacon walked over to Mrs. Tori's brown chair and sat down, making it creek. He started to talk about the gifts of the Holy Spirit. He asked the class to name some, and most students answered correctly. Deacon's small eyes narrowed themselves upon Feli, who was fast asleep. "MR. VARGAS!"

Feli shot up in his chair. "Ah! Y-yes Deacon!"

Deacon sat back in the small chair, the whole class waiting for it to just break. He glared at Feliciano with an unmistakable look of repulsion. Ludwig almost growled in anger. _Bastard. Don't look at him that way. _

"ADAM AND STEVE!" Deacon suddenly yelled and made the class jump out of their skin. He continued in a lower tone. "Can they get married?" Feli's eyes widened. Damn it, why they heck did he have to bring that up? "No," Deacon shook his head. "Not in the Catholic Church." He was speaking to the class, but his eyes were locked on Feliciano's. "If you don't like it, go be a Jew.*" The class looked around, not very comfortable with his choice of words. "HARRIET AND STACEY!" the class jumped again. "Can they get married? No. Not in the Catholic Church. That is the way it has always been and always will be. Get used to it." Feliciano could see Mrs. Tori nodding at her desk. His hands shook in anger under his desk. This wasn't the first time he had done this. It took every ounce of willpower for Ludwig not to jump out of his chair and strangle that asshole.

* * *

Lunchtime could not have come sooner. Feliciano and Ludwig weren't able to talk to each other either because of their different schedules or the fact that they were seated far apart in their classrooms. Ludwig went out in the schoolyard and searched for the Italian among clusters of teenagers. He saw a curl in the crowd and ran to it. "Feli!" he called. The curl ran forward and broke pout of the crowd. Feliciano was not smiling. "Are you okay?" Ludwig asked when he got to his friend.

Feli shook his head. "I hate when he brings it up."

"Asshole," Ludwig muttered. "And then he said 'go be a Jew' like it's a bad thing."

"I know! He's so mean!"

"Still," Ludwig leaned against the school's wall. "He's right about them- people like us- not being able to marry."

Feliciano smiled. "Veh, who knows? It could change someday."

"I doubt it."

Feli was about to say something, but closed his mouth and backed against the wall to stand next to Ludwig, eyes staring straight ahead. Ludwig followed his stare and sighed once more. This was not his day. Approaching the two were Nicky, Vinny, Joey, and Jack. "It's okay," Ludwig whispered to Feli. He didn't know why he said it, but he did. It's not like those two words would really help the situation. Feli's heart beat rapidly in his chest. He wanted to hold Ludwig's hand for comfort but refrained. He didn't want to instigate anything more.

"Did you hear that, queers?" Nicky smirked. "You should leave this school. You don't belong here."

"Do you think I care about what you think?" Ludwig spat. "You're nothing but a nuisance to me."

"Shut up, fagg!" Jack yelled a bit too loud, causing some kids to stare. Feli noticed Joey's facial expression was different from the other boys'. He didn't look angry or mean; just….he couldn't place the look. But it definitely caught Feli's attention. The little group got closer. Feli whimpered and got closer to Ludwig, grabbing his forearm.

"Aww, you're gonna protect your little boyfriend?" Jack made a kissy face. The others made the same kissy face and Ludwig turned bright red. "He's not my boyfriend!" he looked anywhere but at them. People were now staring. _This cannot be happening, _Ludwig wished he was dead. His entire body was burning and it felt like a hand was clasped around his heart. The stares were burning into his skull. _Everyone go away, go away, go away!_ Jack grabbed Feliciano by the collar. Feli yelped and Ludwig grabbed him by the waist. Jack and Ludwig were pulling on Ludwig like a ragdoll, Ludwig forgetting that he could be hurting Feli. "Let go of him!" Ludwig growled through clenched teeth.

"WOOOAAAAAHH!" a voice erupted out of nowhere. The boys stopped making the kissy face and everyone looked around, not knowing where the voice was coming from. The 9th grade homeroom teacher, Mrs. Alvarez, was suddenly in front of the boys. _Where did she come from, _everyone thought. "I don't know what's going on but STOP IT," she roared. "You four go over there and stay away from these two boys!" The group glared at her and walked away. Joey stopped for a moment and looked at them. Feli could have sworn he saw a look of sympathy flash through his eyes, but he walked to his friends. Feli exhaled in relief. "That was better than I expected."

Ludwig was still blushing. He put a hand on his face a shook his head. "This day needs to end."

Feli put his head on Ludwig's shoulder. He felt the German's muscles tense. "Veh, can I go over your house after school? No one will be home and I forgot my key." Ludwig's muscles relaxed and he hesitantly rested his head atop Feliciano's. "Hmm. Okay."

"God, are you two okay?"

They looked ahead to see Elizaveta standing there with tears in her eyes. "We're okay," Ludwig nodded. "Was it you who got the teacher?"

"Yeah. I couldn't just stand there and let that happen."

"Everyone else did."

The boys were scowling at them from afar. "That bitch just had to come at that moment," Vinny muttered.

"I know," Jack growled. "Couldn't have had worse timing."

"We'll get them eventually," Nicky reassured them. "We just need to be more careful with our timing." Joey was silently staring at Ludwig and Feliciano. Nicky tapped him on the shoulder. "Yo, what's up with you?"

"I just have a headache," Joey said. "I'm fine."

* * *

When the final bell rang, Ludwig could not have been happier. It had been an awful day, but he barely had any homework and he was going to hang out with his favorite Italian. When he walked to the front door, he noticed the results from the baseball tryouts were posted on a bulletin board.

These were a few of the names:

Nicholas Dowbroski (_of course,_ Ludwig thought)

Vincent Arlanda

Joseph Nebbins

Jack Pfettscher

Ludwig Beilschmidt

Ludwig's eyes widened and he smiled broadly. _Yes! _At the bottom of the page were instructions: _"Students who made the team must report to the gym tomorrow afternoon."_ He walked out of the school with a feeling of great contentment.

"So you made the team," he heard a voice say. He didn't need to look at the person to know who it was. Ludwig just kept walking and did not pay a single glance to them. He walked straight ahead to the hyper Feliciano waving from across the street. He crossed the street and trotted to his friend. "Veh, you're smiling! That doesn't happen too often!"

"I don't smile?"

"Eh, not really. You just smirk or grin. But now you're smiling! You _must _smile more often. It's so cute!"

Ludwig cleared his throat. "Let's start to walk."

Feli giggled. "Okaaay. So why are you so happy?"

Ludwig's smile returned. "I got on the baseball team."

"Yay!" Feli gave Ludwig a quick hug. "Congratulations!"

People walking by them stared and Ludwig was grateful when Feli let go so quickly. "Thanks," Ludwig's cheeks were pink. "The assholes made it on the team, too."

"They do every year. But everyone who makes it gets divided into two teams, so maybe they'll be on a different team!"

"There are two teams for the same school?"

"Yeah. I'm not sure why, but that's the way it is. I think because there's always too many people."

It didn't take them long to do to their small amount of homework. They were sitting on Ludwig's front porch with their schoolbags near the door. They leaned against the wall and relished in the evening autumn sun. "It's so nice and warm," Feli looked up into the orange sky. He loved sunsets. Sometimes looking at the beauty of nature reminded him that life was worth living. "I'll be sad when it gets cold."

"I prefer winter," Ludwig rested his arms on his knees. "I burn to a crisp in the summer."

Feli laughed. "I bet" he closed his eyes. Ludwig was staring at Feli's long eyelashes. They seemed to glisten in the sunlight. He gulped and decided to close his eyes, too. They sat in comfortable silence for a minute or two. "Ludwig," Feli opened his eyes.

Ludwig looked at Feli. "Ja?"

"Thanks for saving me…again," he blushed a little. "I'm sorry I'm so useless and can't fight for myself."

Ludwig shook his head. "Don't apologize. There's no need to do so. But…" Ludwig looked away, blushing and nervous.

"Luddy? Are you okay?" Feli's eyes were filled with worry.

"U-um…I was just thinking how you d-didn't uh…" Damn. He would hate himself forever for saying this, but, "give me a h-hug this morning and…"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Feliciano gasped. He looped his thin arms around Ludwig and rested his head on one of Ludwig's broad shoulders. "There," he smiled. "Is that better?"

Not being able to find his voice, Ludwig just nodded and returned the embrace. He couldn't believe he just asked for a hug. Feli adjusted himself so he was sitting in the larger boy's lap. He could almost feel Ludwig's heart hammer through his shirt. He giggled and pulled away, but still kept his arms in place. "You're always so nervous and I never know why. What is it about me that makes you blush?" Feliciano was no dummy. In fact, he was asking this question because he already knew that answer. But he wanted to hear it from Ludwig himself. Not from a guess.

As you can well imagine, this was way too much for Ludwig to handle. His crush was sitting in his lap, had his arms wrapped around him, and looked amazing in the low sunlight. Not to mention that Ludwig had his arms wrapped around the other's waist.

"It's just," his voice was unsteady. "I, uh….God, I'm not good at this," his hands were staring to shake.

"But I am," Feli's smile widened a little. "Sometimes words aren't needed."

"What do you-mph!" He was silenced by Feliciano's soft lips colliding with his. You would think Feli would give a small peck and pull away. Nope. He wanted more than that. He opened his mouth to deepen the kiss, trying to give Ludwig the idea. Ludwig's brain felt like it was cracking. He felt sick in the stomach and he was certain his face was on fire. He was going to pull away with the fear of someone seeing, but the sensation of Feliciano's velvety lips against his melted his embarrassment and pride away for a moment. His closed his eyes and kissed back, hugging Feli against his chest. Feli smiled in the kiss and finally pulled away. "Is that why I make you blush?"

Ludwig's wide ocean eyes blinked rapidly and he nodded dumbly.

*Click*

"I TOLD YOU! PAY UP!"

Ludwig and Feliciano looked up to see Gilbert laughing with another guy at the front door. "Fine, you win," the other said in a thick Spanish accent. "Hola, Feli!"

"Ciao Antonio!" he waved.

"You know Feli?' Gilbert asked.

"Sí! I date his older brother."

Ludwig wanted to die right on the spot. "Alright!" he yelled and put Feli down off his lap. "Th-that's enough! Go inside or I'll beat the shit out of both of you!" Gilbert and Antonio laughed and went inside, saying goodbye to Feli. Ludwig slumped against the front door and put his hand over his face. "Seriously…"

"It was nice to see Tony," Feli got up. "But Luddy, I have a question for you."

Ludwig spread his fingers apart so he could look at him. "What?"

"Well," Feli skipped forward and took Ludwig hand from his face to hold it. "Will you be my boyfriend?" he looked at Ludwig with huge puppy eyes. At that moment Ludwig's heart simply _popped. _His knees shook and he managed a single word out, "Ja."

Feliciano squealed and hugged Ludwig tightly, snuggling into his chest. "Yay!"

Ludwig took a deep breath and hugged his new boyfriend back, hardly believing what just happened. From the window, Mr. and Mrs. Beilschmidt saw the entire event unfold. They looked at each other and smiled. They were very glad they sent their son to Saint Monica School.

* * *

***I don't mean to offend anyone! ****He actually said this to us! We were in 6th grade and he decided to barge in the class and say this!**

**That song Mrs. Tori did for the Bible is real, too. (I sang it multiple times)**

**They're together! Hehe. I hope I made the fluff okay. I actually have trouble writing any kind of romance. I doubt the next chapter will be this long. We'll see. Please review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for the late update. It's because I graduated on Wednesday. I'm sad. I went to that school for 9 years counting kindergarten. Sigh. Funniest thing ever: I won the religion award. When they called my name, my friends, family, and I were shocked. I think it's because I had the highest average. Speaking of which, I was a half a point away from winning highest general average. It's okay. I got first honors. :)**

**Enjoy!~**

* * *

Feliciano was always a cheery person. But now, he was simply bubbling. (I like that word). He ran home that day to tell his grandfather about his new relationship, but was disappointed to find he was not home. He told Lovino. Big mistake. He had to lock himself in his room and hide under the bed so his older brother wouldn't rip out his throat. Lovino was screaming curses at him in Italian, but Feli was just too happy to care. He just could not stop thinking about his new boyfriend. He woke up the next morning with a smile already on his face. He had a dream that night that he and Ludwig were running through a flowery meadow. Although, he could never picture Ludwig actually running around in a meadow and rolling around in the grass. The image made him giggle. He skipped around the house and started to jump up and down when he saw he grandfather. "Nonno! I have news for you!"

Roma smiled at his grandson's enthusiasm. "What is it, Feli?"

"I have a boyfriend!" he waved his arms in the air.

Roma's smile faltered a little. "Oh? Who is it?"

"Ludwig!"

His smile returned. "Oh, that nice German boy? Very good!"

"Veh, so you approve?" Feli knew his grandfather was very protective and that if he were to date anyone, it would have to be with his approval.

"He seems like a good kid, but I would like to talk to him one on one at some point."

"Okay. I'll tell him that today."

When Ludwig received the news, he felt like he was going to faint. "You're grandfather wants to talk with me?" he went paler than usual.

"Si! He's just a tiny bit protective. Don't worry, you'll be fine!"

"Oh ja. Sure," he gulped as he gripped the spine of his Bible. He pictured himself having to impress some girl's father when he was younger. He certainly did not expect having to gain his boyfriend's grandfather's trust. He still could not believe he was in a relationship with this boy. But Feli's grandfather seemed really nice. The only person he should really worry about is, "Hey, Feli? How does your brother feel about this?"

"Oh, he wasn't too happy," he frowned. "But it doesn't matter what he thinks, right?"

Ludwig smiled. "Right." He shouldn't worry about Lovino. No. After all, he probably couldn't seriously hurt Ludwig. But still, his grandfather probably could. What he even have to say to him? Was he supposed to say, "Hey, I really, REALLY like your grandson so I'm going to date him!"? That certainly won't do.

"Ooo, there's Eliza and Kiku!" Feli waved frantically at them. They smiled and walked over.

"Good morning!" Elizaveta beamed.

"Good morning," Kiku smiled.

"Good morning! We have some news for you!"

Ludwig froze. _Oh no, please don't tell them!_

"Ludwig and I," Feli took the German's hand, "are dating!"

Elizaveta's jaw dropped and she took a deep breath. "Give me a moment," she said calmly. She put her science book up to her face and screamed into it. It was hard to make out what she was saying, but it sounded something like, "Oh my God! Finally! WOOOO!" She removed the book from her face and smiled. "I'm so happy for you two!" she had tears in her eyes.

"Yes, congratulations," Kiku's smile widened. "I wish you the best of luck for your relationship."

"Grazie!" Feli jumped around, still holding his flustered boyfriend's hand.

"Uh, yeah, thanks," he mumbled. He looked up to see Father Brooks strolling down the hallway with his little maroon Bible in his hand. Ludwig quickly let go of Feli's hand. Feli whimpered and looked at Ludwig with watery eyes. "Father Brooks," he said simply. Feli looked down the hall and nodded, making a quiet "Ohhh."

* * *

Ludwig and Feliciano were pleasantly surprised to find that Father Brooks did not discuss gay marriage or homosexuals at all. Instead, he talked about abortion and birth control. That wasn't exactly something they wanted to hear about for forty-five minutes, but they would take that over the gay marriage thing. Ludwig noticed Mrs. Tori standing at the side of the classroom staring at Father with a small smile on her face. What the hell? Ludwig also focused on Father Brooks' features. He looked like some animated cartoon character. It was like someone got random body parts and glued it onto someone's face. His eyes were always wide and his smile was always creepy. He had light eyes with tan skin. The contrast did not suit him well. Anyway, the class wasn't too bad that day. After Father left and right before the bell rang, Mrs. Tori said, "Father's jubilee will be on Friday, so we'll have to plan something special. I'll let you know tomorrow." _Wonderful, _Ludwig rolled his eyes.

The rest of his classes went pretty well. He spent most of history class staring at Mr. Jones (he simply couldn't help it). "Alright," Mr. Jones sat on his desk. "Who can tell me the leader of Italy during World War II? Anyone? Come on, you know this!" he smiled. His eyes scanned the classroom full of raised hands. He looked at Arthur, who was reading _Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire_ on his lap. "Arthur! I'm so glad you're volunteering for once!" his eyes sparkled.

Arthur raised his eyes to glare at his teacher. "Hm, yes. The answer is Benito Mussolini, Mr. Jones." Every student loved to see the surprised look on their teacher's face when they gave the right answer when the teacher thought they weren't paying attention. Athur smirked. Mr. Jones crossed his legs and fixed his glasses. "Yeah. Good. Read chapter 19."

Feliciano was happily walking through the schoolyard at lunch to find his sweet. Elizaveta had practically begged him to tell her the events which led to them becoming a couple. When she heard that they kissed, she squealed and everyone stopped what they were doing to stare at her. Feli's cheeks turned pink when she asked if they used tongue. Feliciano was so oblivious that he knocked right into someone and made them fall. "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Feli gasped and stepped back when he saw Joey lying before him. "Oh no! It won't happen again! Please don't hurt me!" his eyes immediately welled up with tears.

"It's fine," Joey got up and shook off the dirt from his pants. "Stop yellin', okay? You'll cause a scene."

Feli sniffed and wiped his eyes. "You're…not going to hit me?"

"No. Get out of here before they come."

"But-"

"Go!"

Feli was beyond confused, but he nodded and ran away. He didn't want to stick around for the others to arrive. But now he was extremely curious. Why would he let him go when he mocked him so many times before? When he told Ludwig about it, he was just as confused.

"That is weird," Ludwig put his hand on his chin in thought. "I would have thought he would try to hurt you or something."

"Exactly! There's something about him that's different than the others, but I just can't put my finger on it! He's done stuff before, so it's not like he's different than them."

Ludwig shrugged. "I have no idea. We should still keep an eye on him, though."

"Yeah." Feli's customary smile came back. "So, Luddy, can you come over today so you can talk with Grandpa?"

"I can't, Feli. I have to go to the gym after school because of baseball."

"Oh yeeeeaaah. Tomorrow?" he looked at his boyfriend with pleading eyes.

Ludwig smiled. "Okay. Tomorrow." Feli smiled and took Ludwig's larger hand into his own. Ludwig blushed and let go of his hand. "Feli, someone might see."

Feli shrugged. "So? It's not like it's a big secret."

"Wait," Ludwig's eyes went wide. "Who knows about us?"

Feli began to count on his fingers, "Eliza, Kiku, Francis, Arthur, Nicky, Jack, Vinny, Joey, Amanda, Anna, John, Alexis..."

Ludwig's blush grew deeper as Feli continued to name more people. He put a hand over Feli's mouth. "Why do all those people know?"

"Veh? I told them because I'm so happy! Or…are you embarrassed of me? A-are you ashamed of me?" Feli sniffed pathetically.

Ludwig sighed at his own stupidity and grabbed Feli's hand. "No. It's not that. It's just…you know I'm not comfortable with this stuff."

The tears were replaced with a smile. "Because you're so shy, right? I understand, then." Yes, he knew how Ludwig felt. He knew it would take time for him to get used to their relationship, especially considering their situation. That wouldn't stop him from showering him with affection, however. He put his head on Ludwig's shoulder and inhaled the scent of his cologne. Ludwig's blush reappeared and he saw Francis give him the thumbs up from the distance. Seeing no faculty around, Ludwig give him the middle finger. He heard Francis' French laugh and rolled his eyes.

* * *

When the school day ended, Feli gave Ludwig a quick kiss on the cheek. "See you tomorrow, Luddy," he blinked his amber eyes sweetly. He then skipped out of the building with Kiku and Eliza. Ludwig stood there for a second more waiting for his heart to stop fluttering, and then walked to the gym. Coach O'Mara smiled. "Hey, Ludwig. You're on the Wildcats team," she pointed to a group of boys. "Right there. Please wait a few minutes for everyone to arrive and then I'll give everyone instructions." He nodded and walked over to the boys. He had seen these boys around school before and talked with them casually during classes, but he really didn't know any of them.

"Aww, yeah, we've got the German on our team! We're sure to win!" one boy held up his hand to Ludwig for a high five.

Ludwig grinned and gave him a high five. "I can't guarantee anything," he said.

"I watched you pitch, man. You're like a fucking machine."

"Thanks." Ludwig talked with a few others and was pleased to find how nice they were. A few of them gave him a dirty look and didn't talk to him, but he could care less. His mood dampened when he saw the four assholes enter. Nicky, Vinny, and Jack were assigned to the other team, the Vikings, and only Joey was on the Wildcats. He decided to ignore him completely and wait for Coach O'Mara to begin. He still found it strange that the school had 2 teams, but one of the boys told him it's because almost everyone is accepted. "'Cause everyone's special," the boy said with annoyance.

Coach blew her whistle to get everyone's attention. "Alright, listen up. I have your uniforms here. It's one-size-fits-all."

"School's to cheap to buy anything else," someone whispered.

"Your schedules are right here," she held up papers. "I have one for each of you." Ludwig got his uniform. The pants were white and the shirt was a dark blue with the word "wildcats" written in white. The other's team's shirts also had white writing, but the shirt was black. He also got a blue cap. The schedule stated he had practice every Wednesday and Monday at 3:00-5:00 and that every game was held on a Saturday. "The games will start next week," Coach O'Mara said. "Wildcats will be playing Saint Richard's and Vikings will verse Our Lady of Mount Caramel." Practicing every Monday and Wednesday afternoon meant he couldn't hang out with Feliciano those days. He could imagine the crushed look on his boyfriend's face when he would hear the news. As Ludwig was leaving the gym, he vaguely heard some comment about how he probably wants to "shove a bat up his ass." He briefly considered punching whoever said that in the face (as if he had to guess), but remembered he was in school with teachers around. He went straight home with the intent of doing his homework early and taking a quick nap before dinner. He was in the middle of his science homework when he heard a knock at his bedroom door. "Come in," he called from his bed. He took off his reading glasses and sat up when both of his parents came in his room.

"Ludwig, can we talk to you about something?" his mother asked. Ludwig wasn't intimidated by many people, but his parents were two of them. He nodded.

"Well, Ludwig," Mr. Beilschmidt cleared his throat awkwardly. "Yesterday afternoon, your mother and I kind of saw, umm…" he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. That was something Ludwig and Gilbert got from their father.

Ludwig wondered what it was, but then it hit him. He felt his blood go cold. _No…do they know? Oh God, I hope not._

"We saw you and Feliciano kiss," his mother finished his father's sentence. Ludwig hid his burning face in his hand. He felt tears of anxiety and humiliation threaten to form. _Fuck, fuck, fuck! I'm fucking dead! Why did I let him kiss me? _"And we want you to know that we're okay with it."

Ludwig's head shot up. "What?"

"Yep," Mr. Beilschmidt walked over and put his hand on his son's shoulder.

"You're not angry?" Ludwig struggled to keep his voice steady.

"Of course not. I mean sure, it was surprising. We never really suspected you to be, you know. But we're your parents; we'll love you no matter what."

"Right," Mrs. Beilschmidt smiled. "You know that we don't have anything against gays."

He stared at his parents in shock. The feeling of acceptance was overwhelming for Ludwig. He blinked and a single tear shed from each eye.

"Why are you crying?" Mrs. Beilschmidt frowned.

"I just wasn't expecting you to be so accepting," he wiped his eyes on his sleeves. "I thought you would be angry and wouldn't want it."

"To be honest, would we rather have you straight? Yes. But not because we think it's wrong. We're just worried that you'll be bullied."

Ludwig looked away. "Well, there are a few boys-"

"Who are they? I'll kick their asses!" Mrs. Beilschmidt demanded.

"No, don't worry," Ludwig shook his head. "It's under control. They just make smart-ass comments. They didn't try to hurt me." This was a lie, as they had pushed him a few days ago, but he wasn't going to tell his parents that. "They only try to hurt Feliciano."

"Your boyfriend?" his father winked.

Ludwig blushed hotly and looked down at his feet. His father was basically a toned-down version of Gilbert.

"Don't tease him," Mrs. Beilschmidt gave him a slap to the shoulder. "But…are you two dating?"

"Mutti!" Ludwig buried his face in his pillow. His parents laughed and Ludwig's ears turned scarlet. "…..Yes. He and I are in a…a r-relationship. Happy?" His words were muffled but they understood perfectly.

"Yes," Mrs. Beilschmidt smiled.

Mr. Beilschmidt nodded. "So uh, you really care for the boy?"

Ludwig lifted his head from his pillow and nodded.

"Hm. That's good." Mr. Beilschmidt did accept his son. He really did. Just the thought of his youngest boy in a relationship with another boy was still a thought he needed to get used to. In the back of his mind the concept still seemed foreign. "Well, we'll leave you to do homework. Know that we're here for you, Luddy."

Ludwig smiled. "Okay." They went to walk out of the room. "Um," Ludwig called after them. They turned back to look at him. "Just thanks for…" he couldn't get the words out. Mrs. Beilschmidt smiled. "We know." They shut the door. Ludwig lay down and started laughing. He may have looked like a lunatic just laughing alone in his room, but he was just so happy! He spent years worrying and worrying that his parents would reject him. Yell at him. Beat him. Throw him out of the house. Relief flooded over his entire being. He wiped away a stray tear of joy. Damn, he felt good. He pulled out his phone from his pocket.

_To: Feliciano_

_My parents saw us kiss yesterday, and they said they're okay with it!_

_From: Feliciano_

_Thats great! See? I told u not to worry! 3_

Ludwig smiled at the little heart.

The next day, Mrs. Tori told the class what they were going to do for Father Brooks'. "We're going to sing the song 'Count on Me' by Bruno Mars." The students looked around at each other with the same confused and disgusted looks on their faces.

"That song is about friendship," a girl called out, "is it really appropriate to sing to the pastor?"

"Yes! Father Brooks is our friend, right?" No one answered. "I have the video with lyrics right here," she turned on the SmartBoard*. "Everyone stand up!"

"No!" everyone cried.

"Yes! Get up!"

The class obeyed and pushed their chairs under their desks. Mrs. Tori started the video. Only a few girls were singing at first, but then Mrs. Tori start to prance around the class and more started to join. Ludwig did not like to sing in front of other people. It was the same with that weird song he had to learn for the books of the New Testament. He stood there with his arms crossed without even moving his lips. Feliciano skipped to Ludwig.

"Sing, Luddy! It's fun!"

"It's embarrassing," he answered curtly.

Feli frowned. "Pleeasse?"

"No."

"SING, LUDWIG!" Mrs. Tori scared the shit out of the two of them. Feli started to sing louder, but Ludwig didn't even begin to hum. He was _not _about to do something so idiotic. Feliciano wondered what Ludwig's voice sounded like. He figured it was probably deep and powerful. But something told him it would be beautiful at the same time. _I'll get him to sing one day. Then we can do a duet! _

Before they left the class, Mrs. Tori called out, "Don't forget that tomorrow is Father's jubilee and the haunted hayride!" That's right. There was a trip planned for the 12th grade to go on a haunted hayride tomorrow evening for Halloween (which was in 2 weeks). "Are you going Ludwig?" Feli asked as they went to their lockers.

"Yeah, are you?"

"Yeah, but I'm afraid it'll be really scary!" Feli shook.

"They're people in costumes; how scary can they be?"

"True. Besides," he smiled, "I have you to protect me."

Ludwig coughed and nodded. "Right."

That afternoon, Ludwig went over Feliciano's house. Feli would always start to babble within a minute of his conversations and Ludwig would start to tune him out, but this time Ludwig wasn't listening at all. He was too nervous. His palms were clammy and he felt a bead of sweat run down his neck. He was going to talk with Feli's grandfather. He was so freaking afraid. What if he would be forbidden to date him? The whole journey from school to Feliciano's house was a blur. Before he knew it, he was standing in front of Roma. He smiled. "Feli, go wait in the dinning room, okay?"

"Okay!" Feli skipped out of the room.

"Ludwig?" Roma's eyes fixed themselves on the German.

"Yes, sir?" Ludwig gulped.

Roma stood up and began to walk around the room with his hands folded behind his back, Ludwig's nerves rising. His golden eyes looked at Ludwig up and down, examining him. Ludwig bit his lip nervously. "So," Roma stopped right in front of Ludwig, "You want to date my grandson?"

Ludwig nodded. "Erm, yes. I, I would."

"Hm. Well, why do you like my grandson?"

Ludwig's cheeks flushed a deep shade of scarlet. "W-what?"

"You heard me. Tell me why you like my grandson."

Ludwig took a deep, shaky breath and then released it. Well, this would be beyond awkward. "Well, um…I really like the way he's so…full of life. If that makes any sense. He's always so happy and kind. He has such enthusiasm for the smallest things in life. I really admire that about him. And he's uh…attractive," Ludwig looked away.

Roma smiled and approached the teenager. He smiled and held out his hand. "You seem like a fine boy. Welcome to the Vargas family."

Ludwig smiled and shook his hand. "Thank you, sir. I promise to treat Feliciano well."

Feli watched the whole thing from the door, and was smiling and blushing lightly. He giggled into his hand. His Luddy was so shy! When they were alone in Feliciano's room, he was sitting in Ludwig's lap on his bed.

"Those were really nice things you said," he smiled sweetly.

Ludwig tensed. "You heard that?"

"Yes, silly! Don't be so embarrassed. It was so sweet!"

Ludwig cleared his throat and wrapped his arms around Feli's waist to support him better. Feli purred and snuggled into Ludwig's chest. Ludwig blushed and began to rub Feli's back. "Mmm," Feli sighed in contentment. "You're so warm. Oh, I forgot to ask how baseball went yesterday."

"It went okay. I'm on the Wildcats team with Joey. I got my uniform and I have practice every Monday and Wednesday afternoon. My games are on Saturdays."

"So we can't hang out those days?"

"No, Feli."

His shoulders slumped a little. "Aw, okay. But I'll come to your games! I want to see you in uniform!"

"Hmph. Okay. You don't have to."

"But I want to! Ooo, this is off-topic but I'm so excited for tomorrow!"

Ludwig grinned. "Yeah. Will I need to hold your hand?"

"Yesss."

"Fine. I'm not looking forward to Father Brooks' little jubilee or whatever."

"Neither am I. He's mean."

"It should be fun," Ludwig rolled his eyes.

* * *

**So yeah, I decided to make Luddy's parents accepting. I figured having bullies, priests, and mean parents would be too much for one story. Please review!~**


	8. Chapter 8

**I can't believe I wrote this in one night. Not much to say here other than the next chapter probably won't be as long. Btw, I can't believe I'm at chapter 8. I thought this story would only go to 10 chapters at the most. It most likely it will not be as long as the last story, though.**

**Enjoy!~**

* * *

Mrs. Beilschmidt had her hands on her hips and was glaring at her husband. "Feliciano seems like a nice boy, so what's your problem?"

Mr. Beilschmidt shrugged. "It's not that I don't like the kid. It's just…the image of our son with another boy is just a little…"

"What? Weird? Not to me."

He sank lower in his chair. "It's just a little…unsettling. I don't know." He looked away from his wife, unable to meet her piercing eyes.

"Hans," she spoke sharply. "You said you accepted him, and now you're going to take is back?"

"I still accept him, Rosa," he spoke calmly.

"But you just don't want him to have a boyfriend?" He was silent. She shook her head. "I can't believe you. You make no sense."

"The thought of him just," he coughed. "In _bed_ with another boy is what's getting to me."

"Is the thought of him with a girl is more psychologically satisfying? Is the thought of our child having sex with anyone a good one? Is the thought of Gilbert having sex with some girl better than the thought of Ludwig having sex with Feliciano or some other boy? I don't want to think of any of our children having sex. So what's the difference? It's not like he can help it."

"He can't help the way he is. I know that. But it doesn't make it right."

They stared at each other, his words lingering in the air. Rosa could only shake her head. Without another word, she walked into the kitchen, disgusted with her husband. Little did they know that Ludwig was crouching down at the top of the steps, and heard every word. He slowly got up and walked quietly as possible to his room. He was stopped when Gilbert opened his bedroom door and grabbed him by the shoulder. Ludwig flinched and turned around to meet his brother's sympathetic scarlet eyes. Since they were small children, Gilbert couldn't stand to see his little brother upset. The sight of those watery ocean eyes broke his heart. He held out his arms, and Ludwig shyly entered the embrace, his vision suddenly becoming blurred by tears.

"Give him time, he'll come to his senses," he whispered. "And remember that I'm always here." Gilbert was not an empathetic person. Not really. But it was his brother, after all. And it's not like Ludwig got upset over many things. He had a right to be upset over something like this. Ludwig nodded and it was one of the rare moments in his life when he was grateful he had an older brother.

As you already know, Ludwig isn't a jovial person. He was always serious (letting that slip when Feli was around), but serious is different than sad. So when he went to school the next day, his friends could tell something was wrong. "Veh, Luddy? Did something happen?" the Italian's amber eyes flashed concern.

"Yes, you seem a little sad," Kiku's coffee eyes had the same emotion.

"I'm fine," he didn't look at them by closing his locker.

"Noo, I can tell something's wrong!" Feli pouted.

Ludwig sighed. "I'll tell you later, okay?"

This did nothing to ease their worry, but Kiku and Feliciano nodded. Since today was Father Brooks' jubilee, regular class schedules were altered. Right now, they were to report to the gym, which also served as an auditorium with a big stage used for talent shows. They gathered in the front of the gym with the rest of the 12th grade on the left-hand. The rest of the gym was packed with students. Saint Monica was not only a high school, but it taught children from preschool to 12th grade. The preschool and kindergarten were kept in one building and the grade school was kept in another. There wasn't an exact middle school. The building with the grade school, called the Junior School, taught children from 1st grade to 8th. The high school building was called the Senior School. So, imagine having twelve grades along with the kindergarten and preschool children. That's how crowded the gym was. The stage was decorated with flowers and balloons and signs that said "Congratulations Father Brooks!" The 12th grade squeezed into the corner. When Feli saw the little kids he squealed. He always loved children. He loved their innocence and their constant smile. It reminded him of, well, himself. Plus, they were so cute! Feli tapped Ludwig's shoulder and pointed at the preschool and kindergarten. "Ludwig! Look! Look at the little kids! Aren't they _adorable?_" Ludwig never liked children. He thought they were loud, annoying, needy, and most of all, so very messy! Now that he thinks about him, a lot like his boyfriend. "Hm, yeah. Adorable." He did think they were very cute, but again. They were loud and messy. It was a kind of look-don't-touch thing. Sister Katherine waddled over to a microphone in front of the stage.

"Quiet down, children," she spoke with an annoying sense of authority. "Remember this is a _surprise _so we want to _make sure _Father does _not _know we are here."

Ludwig grimaced. "Why does she emphasize every other word?" he asked Elizaveta.

She shrugged. "Don't know. She always does that. It's really annoying."

"You said it," a voice muttered.

The group of friends looked up to see Mr. Jones leaning against the wall behind them.

"Should you really be saying something like that about your boss?" Arthur crossed his arms.

Mr. Jones smiled. "No one likes her, Arthur," he lowered his voice. "But you didn't hear it from me," he winked. He started to laugh when Arthur's cheeks turned slightly pink. Arthur turned around and began muttering something that no one could hear. Francis gave him and nudge on the shoulder and also winked. Arthur turned away from both of them and sulked. Ludwig raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. He didn't want to embarrass Arthur. Sister Katherine told everyone to quiet down again and the kids did what they were told. Feli rolled his eyes when he saw Father Brooks being led into the gym by Deacon Leonard. Everyone in the lower grades and the faculty yelled, "SURPRISE, FATHER BROOKS!" The 12th grade remained silent, as did Mr. Jones. Mrs. Tori was taking pictures rapidly with her phone. She was _way _too excited for this. Father Brooks had his usual creepy smile plastered on his face. As per usual, Deacon was not smiling. Father went up on the stage and sat down in the orange chair in the middle. Sister Katherine went back to the microphone. "Glad you could make it, Father. The children have put together some _very _special things for you." Father nodded, smile not faltering at all.

The preschool children stood up, some of them holding signs with religious quotes. They sang a little song and hopped around, saying they loved him. Ludwig was surprised they remembered all the words perfectly. Most of them were only around four or five years- old and probably couldn't even read yet. He had to admit, they were very cute. The kindergarten was just as cute. They sang the song "Skidamarink"* that was from an old TV show. Ludwig never heard of the song before. It went like this:

_Skidamarink a dink a dink  
Skidamarink a doo  
I love you  
I love you in the morning and in the afternoon  
I love you in the evening and underneath the moon  
Oh, Skidamarink a dink a dink  
Skidamarink a doo  
I love you_

Everyone clapped and they took a bow. Grades 1-5 were, in short, bad. Their singing was barely audible and they didn't really know the words. The sixth and seventh grades read a poem, which was once again very low. Grades 8-11 also read poems, but they read it loud and clear. That was pretty nice. Also, when every grade was "performing" two students went up to give Father a gift bag or something of the sort. When it was the 12th grade's turn, everyone stood up and Feli was bouncing with excitement. Mrs. Tori put the CD into the radio next to one of the microphones and music began to play. Smiling and looking at each other like "I can't believe we're doing this", they began to sing "Count on Me." All except Ludwig. He just lip-synched like he did before and listened to Feliciano sing. He smiled. Feli really did have a gorgeous voice. Ludwig was amused to see the other members of the faculty staring at them in horror. He didn't blame them. It wasn't exactly an appropriate song to sing to the pastor. Mrs. Tori didn't seem to care. She was singing and dancing along, which was slightly disturbing. When they finished, everyone clapped and Father Brooks stood up and went towards the microphone.

"Thank you so much, boys and girls. Thank you for these wonderful gifts and most of all, your wonderful performances. It's not often when all of the students are gathered together like this. You know, when I became a pastor twenty-five years ago, I vowed that I would help the children of this school in every way that I could. I hope I am doing that. I also hope that my teachings to the 12th grade are helping and inspiring you young people," he addressed to them. "Inspire everyone to become homophobic," Ludwig muttered under his breath.

"And now, let us all end this wonderful event in prayer." He made the Sign of the Cross and everyone followed. He said a short prayer thanking God for various things and everyone said "Amen" at the end. Father left and all the grades slowly made their ways out of the gym.

Ludwig told his friends what happened last night during lunch. "That's awful!" Eliza put her hands over her mouth.

"Yes, I hope your father will think eventually otherwise," Kiku frowned.

Feliciano was crying. "That's horrible!" he swung his arms around Ludwig's neck. Ludwig patted his back awkwardly. "Please, it's not a big deal. I mean, I heard stories about some fathers that beat their sons for being gay. Thank God it's not like that."

"Yeah," Feli sniffed. "I guess it could always be worse."

That afternoon, Mrs. Tori made an announcement in her English class. "We're going to start a new piece of writing," she nodded with a smile. "You'll all have to write an essay using persuasive writing."

A student named John raised his hand. "What do we have to write about?"

"Anything you want."

The class looked at each other and nodded in agreement. "You can write about any topic up for debate," she continued. "For example: you can write about if you think the age for a driver' license should be lowered, or you could write about why you think it's fine as is."

A girl raised her hand. "Can we write about the drinking age?"

"Sure. But remember that with anything you write about, do not write purely opinion-based. Give actual reasons. Don't just say: 'I think this should be legalized because I like it.' No. Give reasons. But," she spoke sharply. "If you decide to do same-sex marriage like students in the past did, I'm going to fight you with the Bible and I won't back down."

Feliciano heard Nicky and the other fuck faces say things like, "Hear that, fagg?" or some other nonsense. He growled, sick and tired of their bullshit, and tired of Mrs. Tori's, Father Brooks', and Deacon Leonard's rants. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

"I'm going to," Nicky raised his hand and called out, "write about why I think gays should _not _marry."

The class looked at him, and then looked at Ludwig and Feliciano. Because of the hyperactive Italian, their relationship was no secret. Ludwig wanted to punch him in the face. His fists shook. He wanted nothing more than do beat up that bastard and take his darling into his arms and kiss him, just to spite the asshole.

"I w-want to write," Feli spoke nervously, still a little unsure of his actions. "Why gays _should _be able to marry."

The class stared at him with wide eyes and some girls smiled and gave him the thumbs-up. Ludwig's jaw dropped. No, was he really going to do it? Everyone looked at Mrs. Tori to see her reaction. She nodded slowly. "Hm. Nick, that's fine. And Feliciano, are you sure?" Feli nodded and gulped. She sighed. "Okay. Fine."

When Feliciano and Ludwig got out of school, they walked straight home, not wanting to run into their bullies. "Feli, you should reconsider your topic," Ludwig tried to convince him. Feliciano shook his head. "No. I really want to do this. I want my voice to be heard."

Ludwig sighed but held Feli's hand. "Well, if you're sure. You're brave for doing this, Feli."

He smiled and squeezed Ludwig's hand. "Well, someone's gotta do it. Speaking of which, what topic are you going to do?"

"Not sure yet. We have a few days to decide."

"Mhmm." They arrived in front of Ludwig's house. Feli pressed a chaste kiss to Ludwig's lips. "See you tonight, sweetie!" And he skipped away. Ludwig touched his lips and smiled. Wait, what was tonight? He thought for a second. Oh yeah, there was the haunted hayride thing. He looked forward to having to hold Feliciano when he got scared.

At 7:00 that evening, Ludwig reported to the front of the school. His other classmates were also there waiting for the bus. He looked at the time on his phone and began to pace impatiently. Why did Feliciano have to be late for _everything?_ He crossed his arms and tapped his foot when Feli ran up to him a whole five minutes later.

"I made it!" he wheezed.

"Yes. You need to be more punctual. You're lucky the bus is tardier than you."

"I'm sorry, Ludwig," Feli hugged him. Ludwig felt stares burning into the back of his skull, so he gently pushed Feli off him. "Please, not here." Feli sighed, but obeyed.

The bus ride was always the best part of any trip. Feli darted to the bus so he could get a seat in the back. "So we can feel all the bumps in the road and jump!" he explained. Ludwig sat next to him and indeed lifted off the seat when they hit a bump. Feli and the other people in the back said "woaaah!" and laughed. Ludwig smirked. It was a pretty funny feeling. Feliciano began to chat about how his brother was denying his feelings for his Antonio and that he should really confess his love and blah, blah, blah. Ludwig leaned his head back on the seat and closed his eyes, offering a few "mhm's" here and there. They arrived at their destination about forty-five minutes later. Feli hopped off the bus and began bouncing around. There were strands of hay on the ground and a building that sold refreshments. There were three entrances: the haunted hayride, the haunted motel, and the haunted corn maze. The sky was dark by now and the autumn breeze was fairly cool. Feli zipped up his blue jacket and looked for his boyfriend among the mess of students. He saw the top of his blonde hair and ran to him. "There you are!" he grabbed his hand. He almost giggled at Ludwig's clothes. It's not that they were silly, but seeing Ludwig in casual clothing just made him laugh. He thought his casual clothes might have been a suit or something. He didn't know. Ludwig was wearing blue jeans and a grey sweatshirt. He looked so cuddly in that sweatshirt! "Come on!" he tugged him out of the crowd.

"Shouldn't we stay with everyone?" he asked.

"No, we're allowed to go with whoever we want! Let's find Kiku, Eliza, Arthur, and Francis!"

They met up with their friends and surprisingly, Mr. Jones asked to join them. "The other teachers are boring," he said. They all shrugged and agreed. They liked Mr. Jones, anyway. Everyone else was going to the motel first, so they decided to go to the hayride. They squeezed into the fairly large cart of hay with other people who weren't part of the school. The ride suddenly started and they entered a dark tunnel. Feli whimpered and squeezed Ludwig's hand. "It's okay, Feli," he whispered.

Mr. Jones turned to Arthur. "Need me to hold your hand?" he smirked.

"Do I need to call the cops?" he glared.

A person with black make up by their eyes and red near their mouth jumped from the surrounding haystacks and gave a loud growl. People screamed and two more people came running from the hay. One jumped up in the cart with them and was staring directly down at Feliciano. Feli screamed bloody murder and buried his face in Ludwig's chest. Ludwig was indeed startled by the people, but they weren't that scary for crying out loud! He wrapped his arms around Feliciano and rubbed his back. "Shhh, it's just a person in a costume," he whispered into his ear. One of the men in the cart glared at them and Ludwig gave him the finger. Feli lifted his head from Ludwig's chest but still kept his arms wrapped around his neck. A man with a mask and chainsaw popped out of nowhere and ran to the cart. Everyone screamed, even Ludwig (although he would deny it). The person reached into the cart and ran the chainsaw against Feli's leg (it was obviously fake). Feli screamed even louder and began to cry. Ludwig held him tighter and kissed his hair, ignoring the dirty looks from the man he flipped off. This was going to be a long hayride.

Feliciano's whole body was shaking when they got off the hayride. "Are you sure you can handle the motel and corn maze?" Ludwig asked. Feli nodded and smiled weakly.

"S-si. I'm fine. You're supposed to get scared with these things, right?"

The motel was even worse. There were people jumping out at every corner. They saw how scared Feliciano was, so they grabbed him the most. He ran out of there quickly as possible and was outside the exit alone, whimpering. Ludwig ran out and sighed when he saw his boyfriend.

"You really shouldn't go in the corn maze," he said.

Feli nodded. "Veh. I think you're right."

"I'll stay with you and-"

"No! I want you to have fun!"

Ludwig frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!" he stood up and kissed his cheek. "I'm positive." The rest of their group came out of the motel, laughing and still scared. "Now go!" he gave him a playful push.

Ludwig grinned. "Okay. I'll be back in a few minutes."

"Okay~"

Two minutes later, Feli realized he had to pee. He looked around for the bathroom and trotted over. He was zipping up his pants when he heard a cold voice. "Did your faggot boyfriend protect you from the scary stuff? Hmmm?"

Feliciano spun around and gasped. The usual crew was standing in front of him with their usual nasty smirks. But once again, Joey was not smirking. Feli did not have time to think about that now. He remained silent and just waited them to say or do something. No one else was in the bathroom and they were blocking his way to the exit.

"You think you can write your little essay and change everyone's mind?" Nicky snorted.

"You made a grave mistake by choosing that," Vinny cracked his knuckles.

"Wait," Joey said. Everyone looked at him. "I gotta crap," he walked into the stall closest to the door.

"We're not going to wait for you!" Jack yelled.

"Damn," Joey muttered.

"We'll do fine without him," Vinny said. His grey eyes stared into Feliciano's frightened brown. Feli backed against the wall, knowing he was trapped. In a swift movement, as if it was planned, Vinny and Jack pinned his arms against the wall. Feli struggled and tried to escape their hold, but failed. His eyes filled with tears and he stared into angry hazel.

"You little pussy," Nicky slapped him across the face. Feliciano held back a yelp by biting down hard on his bottom lip.

"You're big, strong boyfriend isn't here to save you now, is he?" Vinny cackled.

"You're all alone," Jack added and gave him a hard kick to the shin. Feli looked down so Nicky couldn't see his tears. Nicky grabbed his hair and roughly brought tugged his head up. "Look at me!" he growled. "You make me sick," he spit in his face. Jack and Vinny nodded to each other and kicked his shins simultaneously. Feli's yelp was stopped by a hard punch in the face.

Ludwig was curious when he didn't see Feliciano at the motel's exit. Where did he go? He looked all around but could not find him. "Maybe he's using the bathroom?" Kiku suggested.

Ludwig nodded, "I'll check in there." He was about to open the door when Joey opened the door and rushed past him, not even acknowledging him. Ludwig felt a sudden pang of panic in his chest and he quickly went in the restroom. He froze when he saw Feliciano being punched and kicked by Nicky, Vinny, and Jack. Feli was crying in pain and begging them to stop. Ludwig's blood boiled and he walked straight up to Nicky and grabbed him by the shoulders.

"What the fuck?" he cried, unable to see his attacker. Ludwig pushed his shoulders forward so his head bashed against the filthy tile wall of the bathroom. Jack and Vinny hastily backed away from Ludwig and released Feliciano. Feliciano instantly fell to the floor. Ludwig saw this and his cold eyes locked onto the others. He made what could only be described and a tiger-like growl and let go of Nicky to beat the shit out of those two. He punched Vinny in the gut and was pushed by Jack. Nicky held his throbbing head and felt a small amount of blood trickle down his face. His head may have been spinning, but he was determined to fight. He pushed Ludwig back into Jack and Vinny and, in short, it became a hot mess. Ludwig could easily beat any one of them, but all three was a different story. He was punched in his side, his head, and kicked many times. He delivered hard blows to their head, or at least he aimed for their head.

"ENOUGH!" an adult yelled. Mr. Jones grabbed Ludwig from under his armpits and dragged him away from them. Mrs. Tori and two other teachers took hold of the bullies. Ludwig calmed down and relaxed his muscles. "Please, Mr. Jones, I'm fine." Mr. Jones' azure eyes looked over Ludwig and he let go. Ludwig attention immediately went to Feliciano. He ran over and picked up his boyfriend, who had passed out from the pain. _Why the fuck didn't anyone else pick him up,_ he thought bitterly. The other boys were also freed from the teachers' grasps.

"Now," Mrs. Tori spoke deathly sharp. "Will someone care to tell me what happened?"

"Well you see," Jack spoke for his friends. "We came in here and Feliciano was here. He got mad at Nicky for doing his essay against gay marriage and pushed him. They started to fight and-"

"YOU LIAR!" Ludwig roared. "Just look at Feliciano! You know he would never start a fight!"

The teachers looked at Feliciano, who had blood coming from his lips, a developing black eye, various scratches, and tears on his cheeks.

"I agree," the science teacher said. "He would never hurt a fly."

"I think we should confirm this with the one who told us about this," Mrs. Tori said. "Joey, what really happened?"

All the boys gasped when Joey stepped in the circle from behind Mrs. Tori. "Well..."

"Come on, Joseph. I know you're friends with those three, but _please _tell the truth."

"Like Ludwig said," he spoke quietly. "Feliciano did not start it. He was already in the bathroom and we came in with the intention of beating him up. I didn't join and told you guys. Ludwig came in and probably started to fight them 'cause they were hurting his friend. Right?" Ludwig nodded in shock. Could he believe his ears?

"It sounds like the truth to me," Mr. Jones' voice grew low and he glared at the culprits. "Come into school tomorrow to receive your suspension papers," Mrs. Tori told the trio.

"Ludwig, the trip isn't scheduled to be over for another hour or two," Mr. Jones said. "But we should probably get Feliciano home. Want me to take you and him home in my car?"

"Mr. Jones..." Mrs. Tori looked at him with some suspicion.

"What, am I supposed to let this kid suffer? Feli is passed out and Ludwig's bleeding!"

Ludwig blinked. Really? He didn't notice. Ludwig agreed to Mr. Jones' offer. He sat in the back of Mr. Jones' black car cradling Feliciano. When they all left the bathroom, all the students were cluttered around asking what happened and gasping at the sight of the bloodied students, especially Feli. They all said nothing and ignored them. It was about ten minutes into the car ride when Feli began to groan. Mr. Jones' looked at them from the rear-view mirror and his eyes went back to the road. Feli slowly opened his eyes. "Ludwig?" he spoke weakly. Ludwig nodded, fearing if he said anything he would begin to cry. Feli smiled. "You're the best." Ludwig just shook his head and kissed Feliciano's forehead. "We'll be home soon," he whispered. "Just relax. Those bastards won't touch you again." Feli kissed Ludwig full on the lips. Mr. Jones couldn't prevent a smirk from coming to his face, but kept quiet. They broke apart and looked into each other's eyes. Feli rested his head against Ludwig's chest and closed his eyes. Ludwig closed his eyes and waited to arrive back home. Shit was real now. He knew that tonight would not be the last time he would fight those three.

* * *

***That's a real song that they sang. Look it up. Once again, that jubilee really happened. **

**Aw, damn. Shit just got real. Were you expecting a bunch of happiness in this story? You should know I like upsetting people. **

**Please review!~**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hello my dumplings! Since nothing special happened lately, I'm going to ask a random question. I have a few readers that are from other countries and are not native speakers of the English language. This question goes out to those people: what was it like learning English? Was it easy or difficult? What is the most difficult part about English? Also, does English sound pretty or ugly? As a native speaker I've just always wanted to know. **

**Enough of that.**

**Enjoy!~**

* * *

Mr. Jones stopped the car in front of Feliciano's house. "Is this it?"

"Yeah," Feliciano answered weakly. "Thank you."

"No problem. I'm coming in with you, though. Your grandfather might want to hear an explanation from a teacher."

"Mmm. Good idea." Ludwig opened the car door and gently slid Feli off his lap. He got out of the car and offered his hand to Feli. Feli grabbed his hand and put his foot on the ground. His leg started to shake when he stepped out of the car and his other hand gripped Ludwig's arm. Ludwig noticed his boyfriend's trouble and helped him by pulling him from the car. He whimpered and managed to stand up straight on the sidewalk. He shut the car door behind him. Now onto the next challenge: walking. His legs wobbled and ached, especially where he was kicked in the shins (he was sure there were bruises). He still clung to Ludwig for support and was able to limp his way over to the front door. He reached into his jacket pocket and took out his house key. He opened the door and was greeted by grandfather. Now, you can very well imagine the surprised look on his face to see his grandson's blue jacket stained with crimson and his face dirtied with cuts. He knew that without Ludwig, he probably wouldn't be able to stand. Speaking of Ludwig, he had blood on his face, too. Wait, who the heck was the man behind them?

"Feliciano! What the hell happened to you?"

"They beat us, Nonno," he sniffed.

"Who beat you?"

"Three boys at their school," Mr. Jones answered.

Roma's golden eyes narrowed. "And who are you?"

"I'm Mr. Jones, their history teacher. I brought them home from the hayride."

Roma crossed his muscular arms and Mr. Jones grew a little uneasy. This man may have been older, but he looked strong. Strong and protective. Not a very good combination when you show up at his front door with his beaten grandson. "And where were you when this happened, Mr. Jones?"

Alfred gulped and put on his "adult voice." He was used to talking and laughing like a child, but he learned that he needed to sound professional when it came to an angry parent/guardian. "It happened in the boys' bathroom, Mr. Vargas. The other teachers and I were unaware of the situation until a boy notified us." By this time Ludwig had helped Feliciano over to the couch. Feli's head was spinning and his entire body throbbed. Ludwig was also in pain, but wouldn't show it. He was much better than Feli. He put an arm around Feli's waist and Feli rested his head against Ludwig's broad shoulder. Roma looked at the couple and his initial anger was replaced with worry.

"Thank you for bringing them home, Mr. Jones. I'll take everything from here."

Mr. Jones nodded, said goodbye, cast a worried glace upon his students one more time, and left.

Roma sighed and shook his head. "I knew this day would come," he muttered. The teenagers looked at him questioningly. "Let me get something to clean you two up. You should call your parents, Ludwig."

He disappeared into the kitchen and Ludwig dialed his home phone number on his cell. "Vatti? Uh, ja." Feli listened to the German words with slight amusement. German always sounded so silly to him. Rough, but silly. "I'll be home soon…Something came up and we got back early…I'll explain later…Ja, I'm okay. Bye." Ludwig put his phone back into his pocket and ran a hand through his messy hair, failing to straighten it. He did _not _want to talk to his father about this. He knew how he really felt about his relationship with Feliciano. It hurt. It really did. He was always so close with his father. They would always play sports together and just talk about anything and everything. But now he felt like a stranger. That was the part that hurt the most. He was now a stranger. A kiss on the cheek brought Ludwig back to reality.

"Are you okay?" he asked. That's when Ludwig noticed that Feli's right eye was bruised grey and purple with some blood on the top of his eyelid. _Those assholes gave my boyfriend a black eye!_

"Of course I am. I'm barely injured. I should ask that question to you."

Feli shrugged. "It hurts, but I'll be okay. I'm going to try to be strong like you."

"I'm not strong," he mumbled.

"Yes, you are. Stronger than I'll ever be. I'm a big crybaby."

Ludwig shook his head. "It's true that you cry over small things, but this is a good example of why you're not. You're badly injured and you're not crying."

That made Feliciano smile. "Oh, yeah! I didn't even notice."

Roma came back in the room with supplies in his hands. He set them down on a nearby coffee table. There were cotton balls, bandages, and alcohol. He dipped a cotton ball in alcohol and began to gently swipe it across Feli's cuts.

"Oww!" he backed away from his grandfather's touch. "It stings!"

"That means it's working," he smiled.

Ludwig grabbed a cotton ball and dipped it in the alcohol. He was definitely not about to be patched up by someone else. He can take care of himself. He winced slightly at the stinging pain that emerged from his cuts. He had a particularly large gash starting at his temple and ending at his cheek. How the hell they managed that, he didn't know. He covered the wound with a bandage. The pain almost immediately subsided when it was covered. He sighed in relief.

"You alright, Ludwig?" Roma asked when he was done with Feli. Feli had a large bandage over his black eye. He looked so pathetic and defeated that Ludwig wanted to hug him and never let go. To stroke his hair and tell him that everything will be alright in the end. But they weren't alone. And frankly, Ludwig wasn't even sure if everything would actually be okay.

"Yeah, I'm okay."

"Good." He sat down on the couch next to Feli. "Now, can one of you tell me what happened? I want every detail."

Ludwig and Feliciano looked at each other. "I'll start," Feli said, his voice still weak. "I was too scared to go into the corn maze, so I decided to wait outside. Ludwig wanted to wait with me but I told him to go and have fun. While I was waiting, I had to use the bathroom. When I was going to leave, the boys were there-"

"And who are these boys?"

"Three boys. Well, technically four, but I'll get to that. Nicholas Dowbroski, Vincent Arlanda, Joseph Nebbins, and Jack Pfettscher."

"Hmm, their names don't sound familiar. I don't think I know their fathers. Go on."

"Okay. So they were there but Joseph went out to get the teachers. But none of us knew it at the time, veh! Anyway, they started to…umm," both Ludwig and Roma frowned when they saw Feli's eyes overflow with tears. "T-they started to h-h-hit me a-and beat me and…" he trailed off.

"And then," Ludwig took the liberty to finish for him, "I didn't know where he was, so I checked the bathroom. I saw them hurting him and I started to fight them. Feliciano passed out and the teachers came in and broke everything up a few minutes later." Ludwig saw fire in the older man's eyes. He gulped. He didn't know why he was nervous. It's not like he did anything wrong, but still.

"Veh, Grandpa? What are you thinking?"

He blinked and shook his head. "Nothing, Feli. Nothing important. I'm glad you two are okay. I mean, you're hurt, but thank God everything will heal."

"Yeah," Feli smiled. "And that's what matters, no?"

Ludwig's cell phone abruptly took a fit in his pocket. He answered the phone. "Hallo?"

All three of them flinched when a shrill female voice hit their ears. "M-Mutti! I called saying I would be home soon…He didn't tell you?"

Feliciano and Roma could hear Ludwig's mother yell, "That jackass drunk fell asleep! HE DIDN'T TELL ME ANYTHING!" Ludwig held the phone away from his ear and held his head. "Mom, please don't talk so loud. I have a horrible headache."

"THEN GET HOME RIGHT NOW!" With that she hung up.

Ludwig calmly put the phone back in his pocket. "I assume you heard that?"

"Yep!" Feli beamed. "Veh, she sounds scary!"

"She's not always like that. Just when she's nervous. Well, I guess I should go now."

"Okay. Will you be okay walking home by yourself?" Roma asked. "It's pretty dark."

"I'll be fine. My house is only a block away."

"Alright. Be careful." He took the supplies into his hands and went into the next room.

"Don't talk to strangers!" Feli warned with all sincerity.

Ludwig grinned. "I'll be fine," he kissed his cheek. "Are you going to school tomorrow?"

Feli purred and stroked Ludwig's cheek with his thumb. "If I can walk, yes. I want to show them that I'm not afraid."

Ludwig's smile widened. "Good boy. I'll see you tomorrow. Or the next day."

"Okay. I would get up to hug you but, you know." Ludwig reached down and wrapped his arms around his back, careful not to hurt him. Feli hugged back and pressed a gentle kiss to Ludwig's neck. "This will all pass, right?" he whispered.

"Of course," he responded just as low. He ruffled his auburn hair. "Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

It did hurt to walk, but Ludwig made it home in three minutes. "There you are!" his mother yelled as soon as he walked through the door. "Now tell…Ludwig, what happened? Why are you bloody?"

"Bloody?" Ludwig's father came running down the stairs. Ludwig tensed and immediately wished his father was gone. _Like he cares…_

"I got in a fight," Ludwig plopped down into an armchair.

"With who? Those little assholes you told us about?" Rosa's face was red with anger.

"Yes, it was them. Want me to tell you everything?" He told the same story to his parents that he told to Feliciano's grandfather.

"My poor baby!" Mrs. Beilschmidt hurried over to her son and hugged him. She may have been tough and didn't really like to baby her children, but she would always soften up when one of her darling boys was hurt.

"You were brave. I'm proud of you," Mr. Beilschmidt said. Ludwig's eyebrow twitched and his ocean eyes turned dark.

"Don't act like you care," he spat. Mrs. Beilschmidt let go and stared at him.

Hans blinked. "Why do you think I don't care?"

"I'm not stupid," he felt his anger climbing by the second. "I heard what you said. You don't approve of my relationship with Feliciano. You don't think it's right!" he stood up, ignoring the soreness in his legs.

"Ludwig, you misunderstood…"

"Don't give me that bullshit!" his hands were now shaking with fury. Yesterday he was upset, but now he's just plain angry. "I heard everything!"

"Don't talk to me that way!" Mr. Beilschmidt raised his voice.

"Why shouldn't I? You think our relationship is wrong? Fine! I don't need your approval!" He was so angry that he just did not want to be in the same room. He needed to get out of there. He walked to the staircase with the intention of going in his room when his dad grabbed his arm.

"I won't take disrespect," he growled.

"You think I want to argue with you? I don't. You say you accept me, but then you don't accept my relationship? We have nothing to say to each other." He walked up the stairs and went past Gilbert, not even acknowledging him. He locked himself in his room and collapsed onto the bed. It could be worse. It could always be worse, right? His father could have beaten him. He shouldn't complain. He closed his eyes to prevent tears from falling. Damn, he's been crying a lot lately.

Mr. Beilschmidt shook his head. "Am I wrong?" he asked his wife.

"You're both wrong," she said quietly. "He shouldn't have yelled, but can you blame him? He just got in a fight protecting his boyfriend and you say you don't approve?"

Silence. She walked passed him and went upstairs, leaving him alone in thought.

Feliciano's pain was even worse in the morning. "You don't have to go to school today," his grandpa told him. No. He wanted to go. He was determined. His black eye felt like it had a pulse it hurt so badly. It probably looked worse than it felt. But he was going to keep the bandage on to help it heal and not to gross anyone out. He left a bit earlier than usual that morning because he knew he wouldn't be able to skip and sprint to school like he usually would. He finally limped to school after twenty minutes of fighting back tears. His legs hurt, but not as much as his face. It was hard to see with only one eye, too. When he got into the hallway, a smile was brought to his face. That's right, those assholes were suspended! He wouldn't have to see their ugly faces for a while! Any anxiety left him and he happily walked to his locker. Like every morning, Ludwig was already there.

"How do you feel, Feli?" was the first thing he said.

The Italian shrugged. "Eh, okay. Good as I can be, I guess. I'm happy, though."

"Why are you happy at a time like this?"

"They're suspended!" he jumped in the air and let out a small yelp of pain.

"Don't jump around! You'll only hurt yourself more."

Feli sniffed and nodded. "O-okay. How do you feel?"

The German shrugged. "Alright…. My, uh, father and I fought last night."

"What happened?" Feli rested his chin on Ludwig's shoulder.

"I got mad because he acts like he cares. If he doesn't approve, then I don't want to talk to him."

Feli wanted to tell him that he was wrong. That his father probably did care, and he was just overreacting. But he knew that sometimes it's just better to nod and agree with someone when they're upset.

"Feliciano-kun! Ludwig-san!" Kiku ran over to them. Last night he saw Ludwig come out of the bathroom holding an unconscious Feliciano. They were both so bloody! He was so concerned when the teachers didn't tell anyone anything. What happened to his best friends? Why did Feliciano have a bandage over his eye? "Are you two alright? Please, tell me what happened!"

"Kiku, please calm down," Ludwig was touched by his friend's obvious worry. "We're okay."

"Yeah," Feli offered him the brightest of smiles. "Everything's okay."

Kiku stared at them in confusion. "But, you have cuts and your eye, Feliciano…"

"Oh, it'll heal," he touched the bandage. "It was just those three."

"Nicky, Vinny, and Jack? What about Joey?"

"Joey didn't hit me. He was the one who called for help."

Kiku was still slightly confused, but put the pieces together himself. "So, let me get this straight. The three of them started to hit you, and Ludwig-san came in and started to fight them?"

"Right," said Ludwig.

Kiku nodded slowly. "Okay. I see. We were all so confused and worried when no one would tell us anything." His frown deepened. "Are you two really alright?"

"Of course!" Feli gave him a crushing hug. "Sure I'm a little sore, but I'm just happy they're suspended!"

"Uh, yeah," Kiku awkwardly squirmed out of the hug. "There's something that still doesn't make sense to me."

"And what is that?" Ludwig raised an eyebrow.

"Why did Joseph help in the first place?"

"It's 'cause I got sick of those bastards."

They all turned around to see none other than Joey standing there. He was twiddling his fingers nervously. "Uh, listen. Ludwig, Feliciano, I'm really sorry for making fun of you before. It wasn't right."

The three friends blinked in surprise, not believing their ears. "It's fine," Ludwig said, although he didn't entirely mean that. Should he forgive someone who made fun of him so easily? Then again, he _did _betray his dick friends and get the teachers.

"Veh, but why did you help us?" Feli tilted his head to the side. If it hadn't been for Joey and Kiku, Ludwig would have hugged him. He was just so freaking cute.

"I was thinking about it for a long time," he shifted his feet uncomfortably. "I was just a wuss who was afraid to stand up to them. Well, it's not like I really stood up to them. I just ran away and called for help."

"Which was the right thing to do," Kiku said.

"Mm, yeah. I guess. But I should have done it sooner. Years ago, when I really think about it."

"Why do they do it?" Feli asked. "The bullying, I mean."

He shrugged. "Man, I don't know. I asked them a few weeks ago. They said that they, um, people like you, make them sick. They all said that. I asked them why again. Then Nicky looked at me like I was insane and said, 'Because they're fucking faggots.'"

"So then why do you feel differently?" Ludwig questioned, still debating whether to fully forgive him or not.

Joey's cheeks flushed and he averted his eyes. "Well…"

The bell rang. He quickly walked away from them, not saying another word.

Feli pouted. "Aww, I wanna know why!"

"Maybe he'll tell us later," Ludwig stared after him. "I'm quite curious myself."

Ludwig was reading the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He looked up to see Father Brooks standing in the doorway. _No! _He just stood there waiting for Mrs. Tori to notice him._ She doesn't see you! Just leave!_

"Good morning, Father Brooks." _Damn it! _

"Good morning, Father Brooks," everyone stood up, "God bless you."

"Good morning and God bless you," he had his creepy smile etched onto his face. "Please be seated." He once again sat cross-legged on Mrs. Tori little brown chair, again making the image of his crotch forever burned into the skulls of the poor students sitting in front of him. "Now, I heard that the issue of gay marriage has come up in your classroom." Ludwig sighed. Not again. "I also heard that one of you has decided to write an essay about why gays should marry, and someone else why gays should not."

Feli's blood ran cold. _Oh no. _"And I won't ask who is writing what, but," he opened his maroon Bible to a bookmarked page, "I will read you a verse which specifically goes against homosexual relationships." Ludwig decided that he was just going to tune him out. He would think of happy things. He would think of Feliciano. There we go. His boyfriend always made him smile.

Father began to read. "Leviticus 20:13: 'If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.'" He closed the book. "I really don't know what more proof you need," he smirked. "Does anyone want to argue?"

A girl raised her hand and was called upon. "But aren't we all created equal?"

"Of course we are," he waved his hand. "But since it is a _choice _then-"

"No, it's not!"

The entire class looked to the sound of voice in shock. No one ever _dared _to interrupt a teacher without raising their hand, let alone _Father Brooks. _

All humor was erased from his features. "Who said that?"

"M-me," the voice sounded weaker this time. Ludwig nearly facepalmed. _Feli, what are you doing? _

"I'm s-sorry for interrupting, Father," Feli sunk in his chair. "B-but I don't think it's a ch-choice."

He stood up and advanced to Feli's desk near the back of the room. "You do _not_ disrespect me like that," his voice was deathly stern. "You can disagree, but do not interrupt. Are we clear?"

Feli fought back tears. "Y-yes, Father."

He spun around and walked back to his chair. "Now the, Feliciano, why do you not think it's a choice?"

"Umm," he looked around anxiously. Why did he have to open his mouth? "I know that it's not a choice…"

"Nonsense."

"I agree," Ludwig said. Father Brooks opened his mouth but Ludwig cut him off, "And I don't care if I didn't raise my hand," he spat.

Father was stunned that a student talked back to him like that. Mrs. Tori was standing at the side of the classroom agape. "You know what?" Ludwig's voice grew calmer. "It's not a choice. No matter what you think, I'm telling you right now that it's not."

"How do you know?"

"Because he's my boyfriend!" Feli spoke up. For the rest of the class, this was the most exciting thing they had ever witnessed. They never wanted it to end. This was so priceless! Ludwig wanted to die right on the spot, his cheeks and ears beat red.

Father Brooks' expression turned into one of disgust. _"What?" _

"Trust me when I say it isn't a choice," Feli chose to not repeat his statement. "Do you think I want to be bullied? That I want to be beaten? If it were a choice, I obviously would be straight. But I can't help it. And it gave me this," he pointed to his eye. In short, no one knew what to do or say. Mrs. Tori was silently smiling to herself and the class used every ounce of willpower to keep from smiling. Some of the boys didn't like Ludwig and Feliciano because of their sexuality, but they loved the fact that they shoved it up Father's ass.

Father took a deep breath. "You two have detention after school," he stated calmly.

Throughout the rest of the day the couple was praised for standing up to the pastor like that. "Yeah, show that bastard!" Elizaveta fist-pumped.

It was at lunch when Ludwig approached Joey. "You're like us, aren't you?"

Joey hung his head in embarrassment. "How do you know?"

"You just told me."

He sighed. "Y-yes…Well, not exactly. I'm bi…"

Ludwig gave a small smile. "At least you have some hope of being considered 'normal.'" So now they were sitting outside the main office on a blue bench awaiting their punishment. "Veh, Luddy," Feli's eyes filled with tears. "I never had detention before!"

"Neither have I," Ludwig held his hand. "I'm sure it's no big deal." However, Ludwig was a tad nervous. In fact, he was angry that this would stain his perfect permanent record.

"By the way, how was practice yesterday?" Feli tried to take his mind off the pending punishment. "I forgot to ask yesterday."

"Alright. I did well, I guess. You really didn't have to wait for me…"

"But I wanted to!" he flailed his arms. "I'm going to your game on Saturday. Just saying," he sang.

"Fine," Ludwig huffed.

Father Brooks and Sister Katherine emerged from Sister's office. Her face resembled a tomato. Feli had to hold back a giggle as he thought of how red his brother would get when Antonio was near.

"What are you two thinking!" she screamed. "You do _not_ disrespect an adult like that! I would have _never _even _dreamed _of doing that when _I _was your age!" There she goes again with emphasizing too many words. "Now I want you two to _stand up _and _apologize_ to Father!"

They reluctantly stood up and in unintended unison said, "I'm sorry, Father Brooks."

He looked them over with his blue eyes. "Apology accepted. You two can leave."

Ludwig hid his surprise and thanked the man. When they got out of the building, Ludwig checked the time on his phone. "A fifteen minute detention? All we did was sit there and apologize!"

Feli giggled. "That's what all the detentions are like!"

"Then why were you so worried?" He shrugged. Ludwig shook his head. "You make no sense…One minute you're afraid of the smallest thing and the next you're standing up to the pastor."

"I was just so sick of him. I couldn't take it. I don't know what came over me…"

"I thought you were great," he gave him a quick peck to the cheek.

He giggled. "Grazie. So, you're not mad that I announced or relationship in front of the entire class?"

Ludwig blushed and rolled his eyes. "I guess it doesn't make a huge difference since most people had their speculations…That reminds me. Joey told me why he did it."

"Why?" Feli's amber eyes grew wide in anticipation.

"He's bisexual," he said low enough only for Feliciano to hear, even though they were the only ones walking down the sidewalk.

"Ohhhh that explains it!" he smiled. "Veh, I think Arthur might be gay, too! And I would say Francis, but he likes anything. Ooo! And…"

Ludwig couldn't help but smile as his boyfriend began to ramble. He was glad he was feeling better. Seeing him weak like he was last night was really disturbing. It was just the total opposite of what he was used to. They stopped when they got to Ludwig's house.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Feli."

Feli frowned. "What? I don't get a goodbye kiss?"

Ludwig grinned. "Alright. Come here."

Feli clapped in excitement and captured his boyfriend's lips in a sweet kiss. Ludwig wrapped his arms around the smaller boy's waist and held him closer. Feli purred into the kiss and wrapped his arms around the latter's neck. It was when their tongues started to fight for dominance that Ludwig remembered they were outside.

"Wait," he huffed. "We're outside."

Feli frowned. "But when are we supposed to kiss if we can't in school?"

"Another time, okay?" he stroked his cheek. "When we're at one of our houses."

Feli stared into Ludwig's cool, ocean eyes and felt his chest swell. He wanted to kiss him more. Lots and lots more. He wanted more hugs, too. His Luddy's chest was like a pillow! "Okaaay," he sighed. Yes, he could wait a little while longer to smother him in kisses.

Ludwig didn't tell his parents about his "detention." He didn't tell them anything. To be more specific, he didn't tell his mom. He just ignored his dad completely. What he didn't know was that like the detentions at that school, the suspensions were also short and barely a punishment.

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**I'd like to add that the real "Father Brooks" would sit in a brown chair like that. My friend and I were right in front of him and IT was right in our face. *shudders at memories***

**I finished this 2:20 in the morning and am barely awake so I don't know how this chapter turned out...**

**Please review!~**


	10. Chapter 10

**Happy birthday, Alfred! Yup, it's Independence Day here in America. No better way to celebrate than eating grilled chicken in the city where it all started. Lol. Anyway, I got around 30 reviews just last chapter. :O Thank you guys so much. Thanks for telling me about your experiences learning English, too. It was really interesting.**

**So Spain won against Italy in soccer? Congrats Spain and you still did an awesome job, Italy! I feel so American because I know nothing about soccer. I've always wondered why Americans aren't into soccer. **

**Did you get your APH Volume 3 or season 4 yet? I'm SO FREAKING HAPPY that Volumes 4 & 5 are going to be sold.**

**Enjoy!~**

* * *

Friday was pretty uneventful. Ludwig and Feliciano were asked about their detention, if you could even call it that. No one was surprised when they said they only stayed for fifteen minutes and did absolutely nothing. Other than that, it was a typical school day. And they couldn't be happier with that. Feli's pain was much better than the day before. When he took the bandage off his eye before his shower, the redness and swelling had gone down significantly. His and Ludwig's cuts were healing at a healthy pace and the soreness in his limbs was slowly disappearing. Everyone was still admiring them over the whole Father Brooks incident. All of the students and faculty heard about it. In religion class Mrs. Tori pretended that nothing happened, which was probably the best approach. Feli, Ludwig, and the others were surprised when Joey asked to sit with them at lunch.

"I just thought I'd stick with you guys," he shrugged. Everyone looked around, shrugged, and let him sit.

"Veh, have you talked to those three?" Feli asked through bites of linguini.

"They sent me a bunch of texts," he rolled his eyes. "Cause you know, they get all big and powerful when they hide behind their phones."

"What did they say?" asked Ludwig.

"That they couldn't believe I betrayed them and sided with faggots and all that crap. I don't care. But, they said once their suspension is up they're gonna do somethin'."

"Like what?" Feli trembled a little.

"They didn't say. They didn't say to who, either. It could be me. I was the one who told on 'em."

"They might try to do something to all three of us," Ludwig said. "They probably hate us all equally now."

"They'll have to answer to my frying pan," Eliza growled.

They were eating in silence before Sister Katherine's voice broke through their thoughts. "I'm watching you. Uh huh. I'm watching you."

They all looked at each other and burst into laughter.

"What a lunatic!" Arthur laughed.

"Seriously!" Francis flipped his blonde hair. "Who the heck says something like that?"

"She's so annoying," Eliza said.

They didn't discuss the whole bullying matter any further. Classes got their minds off the matter quickly. Mr. Jones was especially animated for that day's history class. "Okay!" he hopped off his desk. "Who can tell me where the totally not cool attack on the U.S. by Japan took place that became the main reason we got involved? I wanna see all of your hands!" He was beaming when every single hand was trying to get his attention. "Oh, who to choose, who to choose…."

Some kids were standing up and waving their hands frantically. "Uhhh….Ambria!"

"The World Trade Center?"

Most of the hands went down immediately only to be slapped on the foreheads of most students.

Mr. Jones frowned. "No….That was 9/11…."

"Oh."

He wanted to slap her across her face. Why did she always have to give stupid answers?

"Okay," he exhaled. "Can someone else tell me?"

The hands went back up and Mr. Jones' smile returned. "Alright, Feliciano!"

"Pearl Harbor!" he answered confidently.

"CORRECT!" he flailed his arms in the air.

"I can't believe he's our teacher," Arthur whispered to Ludwig. "He's such a child!"

Ludwig smirked. "You two seem to get along well, though," he whispered, satisfied when Arthur blushed.

"As if!" he sad a tad too loud.

"Have something to say, Artie?" Mr. Jones walked up to his desk and sat on it. The class snickered and Arthur averted his eyes away, his blush growing deeper as Mr. Jones' butt was far too close for his liking. "I'm going to call the cops one day..." he mumbled. Feli giggled in his hand. He loved this class so much!

Friday afternoon meant the very unusual music class with the very unusual teacher. By the way, they still had no idea what her name was. Or if she was fat or pregnant. When they walked in, she was standing at the front of the class with that _creepy _smile on her face. "Her stomach looks around the same," one kid speculated. Feli and Ludwig sat in their usual spot near the front of the class. They took note of the teacher's interesting outfit. She was wearing an olive green sweater about two sizes too small, an argyle skirt, and orange socks. Her short blonde hair was in a messy bun. Smashing. With the ever-present smile, she walked over to the computer and put on some video about rock n' roll and went to her desk. Feli reclined in his chair opened up his notebook.

"What are you doing?" Ludwig asked idly.

"Doodling," Feli smiled.

"I'm surprised you're not sleeping," he scoffed.

Feli stuck out his tongue and sat up. "Hey, I don't sleep all the time."

"Just about."

"Shut it," he smacked him lightly. "Ooo! You should doodle with me!"

"I can't draw," he blushed slightly. The thought of drawing in front of such an amazing artist like Feliciano was beyond humiliating. The most he could draw was a stick figure.

"You don't have to be good at drawing to doodle! Doodling is just for fun! Watch!" He quickly scribbled something on the page and turned the book around so the paper was facing Ludwig. There was a hot dog with a smiley face. Ludwig raised an eyebrow and looked at him, expecting some kind of explanation for such a ridiculous picture.

"See? Doodling is just for silly things! You try!"

Ludwig took Feli's pencil and stared at the paper. He wasn't creative at all. He looked around the classroom for inspiration, and then found it. It may have been mean, but he was bored. He drew a stick figure woman with a fat stomach and a skirt with an arrow that said "music teacher."

Feli giggled. "Luddy! That's not nice!"

He shrugged. "Only thing I could think of."

They heard the teacher laugh. "Hurhurhurhurhurhur!"

Feli drew a little speech bubble next to the figure with "hurhurhur!" next to it.

Ludwig smirked. "Who's being mean now?"

"At least I didn't draw her fat!"

They continued to write random things on the paper. It varied from various phrases in their native languages to random TV shows they liked. The kids in the back of the class were having a paper war. They were screaming and laughing and hitting each other. The teacher responded by putting her hand in the air and moving it up and down, "Quiet down," she said quietly.

"You should ring the bell," a kid suggested. She just laughed her weird laugh and did not follow the helpful advice.

Ludwig and Feli weren't speaking to each other. If they had something to say, they would write it down.

"Can we hang out after school? 3" Feli wrote in his sloppy cursive.

"Fine," Ludwig wrote in neat cursive. "Improve your handwriting," he added.

"Why? Who cares?"

"I do."

"I don't," he added a tongue face. "I knew Germans were strict but…"

"Hey!" Ludwig actually voiced his words this time.

"Well it's true!" Feli laughed. He picked up the notebook and began to write something. Ludwig leaned over to see what it was. Feli put it against his chest. "No peaking!"

Ludwig rolled his eyes and listened to the teacher laugh again. So, so strange.

"There!" he tore the paper out of the book after a few minutes. Ludwig's eyes widened and he went scarlet. The paper had "Ludwig" written in the middle with a bunch of words written smaller around it. The words were: "smart, handsome, adorable, shy, sweet, strong," and "caring." He put his hand over his burning cheeks and looked away.

"You don't like it?" Feli's lip quivered.

"It's not that," he removed his hand. "It's just…That…Why?"

"Eh?" he blinked his large eyes. "Because these are things I like about you, silly!"

"Hm," he looked away. "Please get rid of that paper."

"But why?"

Damn, why did his eyes have to get so huge and watery when he was upset? Luckily for Ludwig, the music teacher pulled out her flute and played a few awful notes. Just like before, some kids stood up and cheered. Ludwig was very thankful that his boyfriend had a short attention span. When they left the class Feli left the paper on the desk. Ludwig grabbed it and intended to just throw it in the trash. He looked at the paper and a small grin formed on his face. He folded the paper and put it in his pocket. It may have been embarrassing, but he loved the little things his Feli did.

Ludwig went to Feliciano's home that afternoon. He froze when he walked into Feli's house to find people other than his grandfather and brother in the living room.

"Feliciano!" they greeted in unison.

"Ciao!" he skipped over to each person to give them a kiss on the cheek. There were two men, two women, one toddler, and Roma. "Everyone," he skipped back over to Ludwig, "this is my boyfriend, Ludwig." He felt all the blood rush to his cheeks when he heard one of Feli's relatives (or at least he assumed they were his relatives) say, "Ohh, he's so _handsome!_"

"N-nice to meet you…" he mumbled.

"Ohh, this is the German you were going on and on about the other day?" a man asked.

"Si!" Feli chirped. Ludwig wanted to go hide in a hole. It seemed like Feli was not the only one in his family who was extremely shameless.

"Potato bastard!" Lovino entered the room with Antonio.

"Don't call him that!" the toddler stomper her foot. The adults laughed at her and Lovino crossed his arms. Antonio laughed and waved to Ludwig and Feli. The little girl trotted over to Ludwig. She stared up at him with her big brown eyes. "You're tall!"

Ludwig was not one to deal with children, so he stared at her. She wasn't fazed at his lack of response at all. "Can I touch your hair?"

"Um, what?"

"It looks soft!"

"It is!" Feli said.

"You would know," Lovi rolled his eyes.

Ludwig leaned down and let the girl pet his hair. He wanted to shove the child away as he felt her _sticky _hands go through his hair. She laughed and scurried away. He stood up and whispered in Feli's ear, "Can we please go somewhere else?"

"Okay~" he giggled at the nervousness in his voice. Ludwig asked who those people were when they got into Feli's room.

"Two of my aunts and uncles and my baby cousin," he sat on the bed. "They come a lot on Fridays. Veh, they like you!"

"I've noticed," he sat down next to him. "Does all of your family live here?"

"No. Some of us are still in Italy."

"Ah….Why did that little girl want to touch my hair?"

"Her name is Ella. I don't know. It is pretty soft," he nuzzled his face into the soft blonde locks, messing up the gel.

"Stop," he whined, gently pushing him off.

Feli just latched onto his back like a koala and kissed the back of his neck. "But I love your hair! It feels like silk."

Ludwig kept quiet and blushed at the sensation of Feli's slender fingers running through his hair. He allowed himself to close his eyes and leaned back on Feli's chest. Feli had to keep himself from squealing in delight. It was a rare treat to see his Ludwig so relaxed. He was even happier to see Ludwig's cuts fading. His right hand kept playing with his hair and he made his left start to stroke Ludwig's fair cheek. Ludwig never really liked to be pampered, not even by his own parents when he was a child. But he figured he'd lose a bit of his pride for Feli. They were alone, after all.

"Feels nice," he commented softly.

"I'm glad," the usual volume of Feli's voice lowered and he kissed the top of his head.

"Ella's hands were sticky," he said.

"She's a little kid! Of course they're sticky!"

"But with what?"

"Um, probably spit."

Ludwig grimaced and wanted to wash his hair. Why do children have to be so gross?

"Do you not like kids?" Feli sensed the mood for once.

"Not especially," he tried to sound polite as possible. "I'm the youngest so I never had to take care of kids or anything. I just don't know what to do with them."

"Just smile and nod at them, even if you don't know what they're saying."

"Easy for you to say. You're like a little kid."

"Meanie," Feli pinched his cheek at that. Ludwig shook his head to get Feli's hand away from his face. Feli hopped off the bed which caused Ludwig to lose his balance. Ludwig gasped and fell back on the bed. Feli laughed and quickly got back on the bed, this time sitting on top of Ludwig's stomach. Ludwig blushed and stared at his boyfriend in shock. Feli laughed and leaned down, "That's what you get for being a meanie."

Having his boyfriend's crotch pressed against his stomach and his lips centimeters away from his was obviously too much for the awkward German. He grabbed Feli by the shoulders and brought him down so their lips touched, wrapping his arms around the smaller boy's waist. Feliciano wasn't intending to start a make out session, but he didn't oppose. Who would? Feli became painfully aware that if he were to become a little too excited, Ludwig would feel it. It's not that he hadn't considered _that. _No, it came to his mind in the past. But, what if Ludwig didn't want it? What if he wasn't ready? Honestly, he wasn't really sure if he himself was ready. In reality, they had only known each other for about two months. Damn, only two months? It felt more like six. Feliciano figured that his teenage hormones were getting to him. He would stop before making a bad decision. But still, there was nothing wrong with just making out, right? Having decided that they were long overdue for a good make out, Feliciano bit Ludwig's bottom lip. Ludwig moaned and Feli slid his tongue into his mouth. Usually Ludwig was the more dominant one in their kisses, but not this time. Their tongues tangled and they both started to feel hot.

Ludwig was grateful when Feli got off his stomach to lie next to him. He knew that if he were to get too hot, Feli would feel it. The Italian smiled. "Your lips are always so soft."

Ludwig cleared his throat and sighed. "Please don't talk about the texture of my lips."

There was a light knock on Feli's door. Ella entered and ran to the bed.

"Feliii!" she jumped on the bed and did not watch were she was going. At all. She jumped on Ludwig's balls. He grunted and turned so he was curled up in a ball. She didn't even notice and instead sat on Feli's lap. Feli put an arm around her and moved his other arm to rub Ludwig's back, holding back laughter. As if Ludwig wasn't having enough problems with that area after kissing Feli, she just_ had_ to waltz in the room and squish them. He sat up and groaned in pain.

"Are you okay?" Feli asked with a cheeky grin.

Ludwig glared at him. "Do I look like I'm okay?"

"Nope!" Ella answered. His glare rested on Ella. This kid was _really_ trying his patience.

"There she is!" Lovino entered the room with Antonio. "They asked us to entertain her and she ran away from us." Lovino glared at Ludwig. "What's your problem, macho potato?"

Ignoring the barely-an-insult, he spoke. "Ella came in and, uh, when she jumped up on the bed she kind of…hurt my groin area."

Lovino smirked. "Serves you right."

"Don't say that, Lovi!"

"I don't know, Feli," Antonio's green eyes sparkled. He remembered that there was a little girl in the room, so he chose his words carefully. "Maybe you could massage Ludwig's _sore_ area."

Ludwig choked on air. Now he knew why this guy was good friends with his brother. He was grateful that his brother was not there. He wouldn't take into consideration that there was a child there, and would probably say something like, "Maybe he could lick the pain away!" He wanted to go over there and punch him, but he remembered that he wasn't in his own home. Feli's face resembled a tomato and he stayed silent. He covered Ella's ears when the room was filled with a parade of Lovino's curses.

"You better _not _do that with my brother, you potato-sucking bastard! I'll fucking kill you!" he launched forward but was stopped when Antonio caught him by the arms.

"Lovino," Feliciano's voice was clipped. "Take Ella and go downstairs with Antonio." It wasn't often when the cheerful Italian spoke like that, but Ludwig liked it. He enjoyed the look of annoyance on the older Vargas' face. He smirked when he saw Lovino get even angrier. Ella got off the bed and went out the door. Antonio dragged Lovino away and shut the door. Feli quickly got up and locked the door. He sighed and shook his head. He loved his family, but sometimes he wished they would just disappear.

Saturday's baseball game started exactly at noon. Sure enough, Feliciano was in the stands. He didn't know much about baseball. He liked to watch it and rooted for the city's team, but he was more of a soccer person. He came to the game with Elizaveta, who was just dying to see Ludwig in his uniform. They were playing against a team that was known to be good in the city. _Just what I _need_ for my first game,_ thought Ludwig. Feli looked around the field. The smell of freshly cut grass was pretty overwhelming. He squealed and kicked his feet when the teams came out and Ludwig stepped onto the pitcher's mound. Feli couldn't see up close, but he loved the way that uniform looked on him.

"Blue is a really nice color on him!" Eliza was just as happy.

"I know! He looks adorable with that cap!"

Meanwhile, Ludwig's parents and brother took a seat behind them.

"Feliiii!" Gilbert clasped him on the shoulder.

"Eeep! Oh, hi."

"Hey," Gilbert's scarlet eyes sparkled when he saw Elizaveta. "Oh hellooo, who's this?" he smirked.

Eliza's eyes narrowed. "I'm Elizaveta."

"Gilbert Beilschmidt," he held out a pale hand. "Nice to meet you," he winked. She shook his hand and squeezed it tightly as she could. He yelped in pain and Mr. Beilschmidt smirked, but said nothing. Elizaveta turned around briskly.

"Man, she's feisty," Gilbert said to his parents in German. "I like it."

When Ludwig would pitch, he would bend over and stare at the strikeout zone in concentration. He would look at the signals the catcher would give and either nod or shake his head at them. Feli found himself staring at Ludwig's butt every time he bent over to pitch. He couldn't help it; those pants just fit him so well!

"Thinking about what you can do with that butt, Feli?" Gilbert cackled. Mrs. Beilschmidt was about to scold her son, but was beaten to it by Elizaveta. She gave him a hard slap on the arm. A flustered Feli muttered thanks to Eliza and continued to watch the game. Their team was winning. The score was 5-2. Although he knew Ludwig wasn't pleased about it, Feli thought the crushing look on his face when he would give up a hit or a home run was pretty funny. It was the top of the 9th inning and Ludwig fiddled with the baseball in his hand. He threw the ball and the batter swung widely and stuck out awfully. A small smile formed on Ludwig's face when the umpire called it a strike and his team was declared the winner. The catcher walked to him and they gave each other a high five.

"Good game," the catcher pat him on the back. Ludwig's mood brightened a little more when he saw Feli clapping in the bleachers.

"You were amazziiing!" he hugged him. "And you look so hot in those clothes!" He wanted to say how good his butt looked, but refrained when he remembered Ludwig's family was there. Ludwig blushed when Elizaveta giggled.

"Awesome, West!" Gilbert gave him the thumbs up.

"Yeah," Mr. Beilschmidt smiled. "Come on. Let's go home."

Not wanting to cause a scene in public, Ludwig just silently nodded. He gave Feli a quick peck on the cheek and said goodbye.

"See ya, sweetcheeks," Gilbert winked at Elizaveta, who gave him the middle finger in response.

"What an ass," she rolled her eyes.

"Veh? I like Gilbert! He's funny!"

Eliza just rolled her eyes again. "It's hard to believe that _thing_ is related to someone like Ludwig. They're nothing alike."

As a little side note, the trio of dicks were present, disgusted that Ludwig pitched a great game.

When the Beilschmidt family arrived home, Gilbert grabbed his house keys and stated he was going out. "I'm meeting two of my friends. See ya!" Rosa went into the living room to watch TV and Ludwig went into the kitchen. The game made him pretty hungry. He made himself a ham sandwich and was chomping away when his father entered the room.

"Ludwig, can we please talk?" his blue eyes were pleading. Ludwig swallowed the mouthful of sandwich and nodded, taking a seat at the kitchen table. Mr. Beilschmidt took a seat across from him and folded his hands on top of the tabletop. He sighed. "Ludwig, I know you're very angry at me," he made direct eye contact. "But I want you to know that I _am _proud of you."

"For what?" Ludwig asked quietly.

"For not being afraid to be with Feliciano. For fighting for him. Standing up to those little bastards."

"Then why don't you approve of our relationship?" Ludwig was growing impatient. Mr. Beilschmidt paused and sat in silence for a moment. Ludwig's icy eyes were locked onto his father, waiting for a response.

"It's not that I don't approve," his voice was barely above a whisper. "It's just… It's hard to accept something you know nothing about. I know now that your relationship with Feliciano is no different than a relationship with a boy and a girl. Before that, I don't know, it just seemed foreign. The thought of my son with another boy was just unsettling. It's not that there's anything wrong with it-"

"That's not what you said that night," he kept his voice calm.

"My mind changed," he started to drum his fingers on the table. "I'm sorry that I thought like that. I don't know what was going through my mind," he shook his head in shame. "Ludwig," he raised his eyes. "I'm sorry. I think Feliciano is a wonderful boy and I'm happy for you two." It's funny how emotions can change. How anger can wash away so quickly. Ludwig had so many things to say to him before, but now no words came to his mind.

"We were so close, Luddy. And now you don't want to look at me."

"Dad…" he felt his heart breaking in two.

"But, I just wish we could go back to the way we were," he looked down at his hands. "I…I don't care if you're gay. It doesn't make a difference." He brought his eyes to look back into Ludwig's. Ludwig's eyes were watering and he just couldn't stop them. "You're my son. I still love you just the same."

And that's when he broke down. "V-vatti," he wiped his eyes on his sleeves. "I-I'm sorry for being such an ass!"

Hans smiled sadly and got up and hugged Ludwig. "It's okay," he rubbed his back like he would do when Ludwig was a child. His eyes filled with tears as memories of him spending time with little Ludwig came to his mind. Ludwig hugged his father back and took a wobbly breath, his tears subsiding. It seemed like he just could not stay angry at his father. That he could choose his friends, but not his family. Ludwig pulled away and smiled at his father. Hans smiled back and ruffled Ludwig's blonde hair. "Great game today."

"Thanks," he said softly.

Gilbert then ran into the kitchen and tripped on his own two feet. Laughter came from the other room and Antonio walked in with someone else.

"Francis?" Ludwig asked in confusion.

"Bonjour, mon ami!"

"Yeah!" Gilbert got up from the floor. "This guy's the best!" he slung an arm around Francis and Antonio.

"I don't even want to know how you know each other," he shook his head.

"Just don't destroy the house," Mr. Beilschmidt said. The smile on Ludwig's face refused to vanish. After days of angst, he and his father were finally on good terms.

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**Hooray for happy family time! So everything's okay with them. Ahh, I love the Bad Touch Trio. **

**By the way, Ella is based on my baby cousin. For some odd reason, I'm her favorite. I have NO IDEA how to entertain her. She's always sticky...**

**And yes, the names of Ludwig's parents are a reference to _The Book Thief. _**

**Please review!~**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey girl! Or guy. Do any guys read this (besides you, Nick)? I doubt it. Anyway, I'm very angry. I have three summer assignments: read two books and answer questions, blah, blah, blah. That's not the bad part. No. I got A FUCKING 24-PAGE. MATH. PACKET. I'm going to bang my head against a wall. It's not true when people say that you're good at math if you play an instrument. No. Math is my worst subject.**

**Enough of my ranting.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

It was Monday when Nicky, Jack, and Vinny were allowed to go to school again. "Suspension was the easiest thing ever," Nicky told other with a smirk. "Here's what I did: sleep until noon, did the work they sent me, and went back to sleep. It wasn't a punishment at all." But the small group of students listened merely out of curiosity. Even if some of them were close-minded Ludwig and Feliciano's relationship, they wouldn't harm them. The other students were cold toward the three. Joey was removing books from his locker when an arm went around his shoulders. He jumped and turned to have his face inches away from Jack's.

"Joey," he smirked nastily. "How are you?" Joey kept silent and averted his black eyes. "Aww, are ya scared?"

"You should be," Vinny's grey eyes lit up with the sick thrill of bullying.

"I'm not afraid," Joey got out of Jack's hold, "because I'm not alone."

"You think those faggots will protect you?" Nicky chortled.

"Ludwig almost kicked your asses," he sneered.

"He caught us off guard," Nicky shrugged.

Joey shut his locker. "Why? Why do you have to torture them? I mean, so what if they're gay?"

"It's a sin," Jack said.

"Don't give me that bullshit. You were never into that religion stuff."

"You don't know that."

Joey shook his head and walked away from them, his heart aching with each beat. To think that he used to look up to Jack made him feel ashamed. Out of those three, he was the closest with him. They grew up on the same street together until a few years ago when Joey moved to a bigger house. As he walked through the halls he tried to remember back to a time when they weren't bullies. Sadly, none came to mind. Nicky and Vinny were always the instigators, and Jack would always be glad to follow. For a while, Joey thought nothing of what he was doing to other children. He came to a realization when they started to harass Feliciano. By that point, he already knew he was bisexual.

Ludwig and Feli heard of their return.

"They're going to kill us!" Feliciano looked at Ludwig with fearful eyes.

"In their dreams," Ludwig assured him.

Feli wasn't too sure. He was still slightly sore from last week and his eye still had a small purple-ness about it. But he could trust Ludwig, right? Ludwig would protect him. But could he really rely on Ludwig for the entire school year? They had eight long months left to go.

* * *

Nothing happened for two weeks. They waited for the bullies to do something, say something. Nothing happened at all.

"Do you think they're planning something?" Feliciano asked Joey one day.

He shrugged. "Man, I don't know. I told you that Vinny said I should be afraid, but he could have been full of shit. They haven't said a single word to me since then."

Nothing was even said or done when Mrs. Tori announced in her English class that they had to begin their essays.

"These are due….Um…" she looked at the calendar on her bulletin board. "Halloween is Thursday and you won't be here Friday so they will be due on Monday!" The day after Halloween is a Holy Day of Obligation, All Saints' Day. When one of these days occur, it is required by the Church that you attend mass. St. Monica gave its students a day off, which made no sense to Ludwig. If you were really supposed to go on that day, then why not make the kids go to school and bring them to church? Not that he wanted to go, anyway.

As Feli was staring at his paper in thought, she came to his desk. "I want you to read your essay to Father," she said lowly. "I told Nicholas that he needs to read his, too."

Feli gulped and played with his pen nervously. "Really?"

"Yes, really. I already told Father and he said he really wants to hear. I'm very interested, too." She left Feli stunned at his desk. Not only did he have to read his essay in front of the whole class, but Father Brooks? Well, at least he was somewhat better than Deacon Leonard. If he had to read in front of Deacon, he would drop out of school. Father still wasn't much better. Feli bit down on his pen when he remembered his teacher's words. She told Father? He could picture her running to him with sick excitement with the news. As if she was reading his thoughts, Mrs. Tori spoke. "You know, the President recently announced that he supports gay marriage.*" The class looked up from their papers. "I already don't like the man…"

Elizaveta, who shared the class with Feliciano and Ludwig, raised her hand, detecting the tone in her teacher's voice. "How do _you _feel about the subject?"

Mrs. Tori folded her hands in front of her stomach and bit her lip. "Well…I go by what the Bible tells us." She walked over to her "prayer table" (which was just a small table with a Bible, roses, and a picture of Saint Theresa of the Little Flower). She grabbed her Bible and sat down on her brown chair. The same chair where Father Brooks would sit cross-legged. She flicked through the pages for a minute before clearing her throat. "Genesis, chapter nineteen." She then began to read a story which Ludwig could barely follow. The only information that he could gather was that there were men who refused a man's daughters and instead wanted more men…or something like that. Then God got angry and destroyed the town. She closed the Bible and looked at her confused class.

"I think that says enough."

Eliza raised her hand again. "What about people who aren't Catholic?"

"I can't say anything about that, but I as a Catholic have to follow the Bible."

Surprisingly, one of the "popular" boys raised his hand. "But, like, if it makes them happy then isn't it okay?"

"What if you get older and little boys makes you happy? Then is that okay?" They stared at her in shock. Feli's jaw dropped and his face burned with anger. How could she even compare the two?

The hands of a few girls, including Eliza, and Ludwig shot up. Ludwig was called upon.

He remembered what happened last time when he lost his temper. Not that detention was a horrendous punishment here, but detention should always be avoided. "Those are two completely different things," he eyes narrowed and were the color of ice. "You don't have to be gay to be a pedophile."

"Most pedophiles are."

"Oh," he bit back the smirk that pulled at his lips. "You mean like the Catholic priests?"

The class stared at him in astonishment. Feli hid his mouth in his hand to hide his laughter.

Mrs. Tori grew red. "Not all priests are pedophiles. Just look at Father Brooks."

He avoided making a joke about Father. "Most of them are," he couldn't bite back his smirk this time.

She took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and closed it. "Anyone else have a comment?"

Ludwig was not pleased when he was ignored. Luckily for both of them, the bell rang.

Once out in the hall most of the girls went up to Ludwig.

"You were awesome!" one said.

"You really shoved it up her ass!"

Elizaveta gave him a hug and Feli was beaming. "Veh, that was so cool, Luddy!"

"I just can't believe that bitch said that," he rolled his eyes.

"Oh, I know! I was so angry but I didn't know what to say!"

"Just continue writing your essay. Then you can tell her off."

Feli frowned. "Oh yeah, about that. She came to my desk saying that I have to read it for Father Brooks. Nicky has to read his, too."

"All the better, then," Ludwig said.

"How?" he looked at him.

"Then you can tell Father off, too."

"But I'm scared!"

"Why? You stood up to him just last week."

"Veh, I don't know. He's still the pastor so he could expel me if he really wanted to."

"Expulsion for reading an essay is highly unlikely, Feli."

"You never know," he said quietly.

* * *

Later that day, they were discussing their plans for Halloween.

"But you haaaave to dress up!" Feliciano whined. "Please? Please, oh please, oh pleeeeassse?" He blinked his amber eyes and stuck out his bottom lip. Ludwig sighed and looked away uncomfortably.

Francis gave a short French laugh and winked. "Ohoho, how can you resist those eyes, Ludwig?"

He gave Francis a dirty look. "I don't know how you're friends with my brother, but I can see how you two get along." He turned back to his boyfriend. "Alright, alright, I'll do it."

"Yaaaaaay!" he squealed and hugged him. "It'll be so much fun! Veh, I can't wait! We're going to get so much yummy candy and stuff our faces and…"

Ludwig tuned out the rest continued to glare at a smirking Francis. He had to suppress a grin, though. His little Feli's excitement never failed.

"Just don't eat too much candy," he decided to partake in the one-sided conversation. "You'll get sick."

"Aww," he deflated. "But candy is so delicious!"

"You can't eat all the candy in your bag," he shook his head.

"Fine," he huffed.

Nothing particularly spectacular happened for the rest of the week. Feliciano worked on his essay a little bit each night, but then would get sidetracked with various things like a stray cat outside or texting Ludwig. Texting Ludwig was definitely one of his favorite activities. He would giggle to himself when receiving certain texts, being able to picture the flustered look Ludwig probably had on his face while sending the text. During one of their conversations, Feliciano mentioned Ludwig's baseball uniform.

_Feli: Your uniform was just so adorable!_

_Ludwig:…Where did that come from?_

_Feli: I was just thinking about how great your butt looked ;)_

_Ludwig:…._

_Feli: *taps butt*_

_Ludwig: Please….stop…_

Feli laughed into his hand and Lovino stared at him. He quickly swiped the phone out of his younger brother's hand and read through the texts. Feli wrestled with him to get it back and succeeded, but was a bit too late. Lovino glowered at Feliciano. "You sicken me." He made his way to go upstairs.

"Hey, at least I'm not like you!"  
He stopped walking. "What do you mean?"

"Your butt is always sore from Antonio!"

Lovino scowled and his eyes lit up with anger. "YOU BASTARD!"

Needless to say, Lovino was not a happy camper that night.

* * *

Anyway, the week went by pretty fast. It was Halloween night when Ludwig knocked on Feliciano's front door with a light blush on his face. Honestly, he looked so ridiculous! If it wasn't for Feli then he would have just sat on his front step and given out candy to the little kids. But no. He had to be a pushover for his boyfriend. So here he was; seventeen years old and dressed as Dracula. With such short notice there weren't many good costumes left at the store. It was the bets he could find. The worst part of it was that his mother _insisted _that he needed to wear white face makeup with black eye shadow. While his mother did do a good job on making him look a little creepy, it was still _makeup _for God's sake! Ludwig did not recognize the person who answered the door at first. It wasn't until the person greeted with "Hola!" that he realized it was Antonio….dressed in a tomato suit?

"Um, hi," he looked over Antonio with a look of confusion and annoyance. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I'm with Lovino! Come in, Feli's right over there. Nice costume, by the way."

"Thanks," he mumbled. "Yours is….interesting."

He entered the house to see Feliciano jumping on the couch dressed in a Mario costume and Lovino yelling at him dressed in a Devil costume. For a second, he pictured Lovino dressed as Luigi. _Although this costume definitely suits him… _

"Ludwig! You're here!" he jumped off the couch and ran to him. "Ooo, you look scary!"

"Hi, Feli. You look…" The word that came to his mind was _adorable, _which in fact he was with that red hat and those overalls, but he wasn't about to say it. "Very nice."

"Thanks! I don't really play a lot of video games but I really Mario. I was going to dress as a kitty but Lovino said I would look like an idiot." The image of Feliciano clad only in cats ears and a tail sneaked its way into Ludwig's mind. He gulped and ignored his warm cheeks. No dirty thoughts, Ludwig. Be a good boy. Think happy thoughts. "Oh, I almost forgot!" Feli ran and picked something up from the coffee table. "Tada!" He now had a mustache glued to his upper lip.

Ludwig chuckled. "Looks good."

"Can we go out now? Pleaaasse?"

"Yes, as long as you remember what I said about eating the candy."

"Okay fine."

"We'll catch up with you later," Antonio said. "I have to practice walking in this tomato."

"Yeah," Lovino rolled his eyes. "We'll probably go to the park after we're done. Let's meet there."

With that they set out for trick-or-treating (much to Ludwig's dismay). Feli skipped down the street and yelled "Yahoo!" just like Mario, earning him smiles from many people and extra candy. Ludwig would feel stupid every time he held out his bag for candy, muttering his thanks and walking away from the house quickly as possible. They saw Arthur on the streets dressed in Gryffindor robes from _Harry Potter. _He smiled and waved to them and joined their party. They walked up to a house and held out their bags to someone dressed as Captain America.

"Artie, Luddy, Feli, is that you?"

They all dropped their bags and stared at the use of their nicknames from a familiar voice.

"Mr. Jones?" Arthur's emerald eyes blinked in surprise.

Mr. Jones laughed. "Yep! Hold on a sec!" He disappeared inside his house.

Arthur's look of surprise quickly turned into one of annoyance. "We can never get rid of him."

"Veh, I don't know Arthur," Feli's tone turned a bit suggestive. "You seem to like it when he's around. Which isn't a surprise since he is your _favorite _teacher."

Arthur huffed and turned away. "I think you've been spending too much time around Francis," he hissed.

Mr. Jones came back out with two more bowls of candy. "Here you go!" he emptied the bowls into their bags.

Feliciano was jumping up and down in delight and although Ludwig didn't eat much candy, he was certainly delighted.

"Thank you, Mr. Jones!" Feli's eyes shown with unmistakable appreciation. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Yeah, thanks Mr. Jones," Ludwig's lips curved into a small smile.

"Yeah," Arthur grinned. "You didn't have to…Where did you get this much candy?"

"Anything for my favorite students!" his blue eyes sparkled (though the rest of his face was covered by a mask). "And I always buy candy. I have waaaay too much."

They thanked their teacher again and said goodbye. "I'm going home now," Arthur announced. "I've got enough candy for months. See you guys Monday."

"Let's go to the park and see if Lovino and Antonio are there."

"Alright," he agreed.

They reached the park about 11:45 pm. It was basically deserted. Feli ran under the slide and immediately began to take out candy and devour the sweets. He saw Ludwig's disapproving look and began to eat slower. The autumn night was relatively warm for that time of year, but was still cool enough to make Feliciano shiver. The fact that he was only wearing overalls and a shirt didn't help.

"Cold?" Ludwig asked when he saw his boyfriend shiver. Feli nodded and scooted closer to Ludwig. Ludwig used his cape as a makeshift blanket to drape over Feli. Feli smiled and snuggled up to Ludwig's side. "Thanks."

The park glowed from the full moon and the only sound was the rustling of dead leaves. They sat in quiet contentment until Ludwig saw a shadow out of the corner of his eye. He looked but didn't see anything. He rubbed his eyes, thinking he was just a little tired. There was a small _crunch _noise, like someone stepping on the leaves. Another shadow moved.

"Ludwig," Feli began quietly, "Did you see that?"

Now he knew it wasn't his imagination. "Yeah," he whispered back. Something wasn't right. "Maybe we should lea-" he was cut off when something pulled at his cape and gagged him. Feli yelped and hastily crawled out from the slide. He grabbed Ludwig's hand and pulled him forward, ripping the cape from his neck. He stood up and held his hand to his throat. They stepped back when three people dressed as clowns came out from under the slide. They all just stared at each other in silence, Feli's hand squeezing Ludwig's. Knowing the faces under the masks, Feli asked, "Why can't you just leave us alone?"

"You're freaks," the voice of Vinny came from one of the clowns. "It's not natural."

"It's not worth arguing with them," Ludwig said.

" Oh yeah?" Jack's voice came from another clown.

"Look," Ludwig sighed. "Just let us get our candy bags and go home."

"You think it'll be that easy?" the last clown, Nicky asked. "We're not letting you go so easily. There's no teachers 'round this time."

"It's three on two," Jack said. "You can't win."

"Ludwig kicked your asses all by himself!" Feli clenched his fists.

"And we kicked your ass," Nicky cackled.

Ludwig growled and grabbed Nicky by his collar. "Want me to knock your teeth down your throat?"

"Both of you stop," a voice spoke sharply. Ludwig let go of Nicky and they all turned to see Antonio and Lovino approaching. The clowns laughed.

"Ooo, we're so scared of Feliciano's faggot brother with his tomato lover!" Vinny howled.

"Leave them alone," Antonio's eyes flared, "Or I'll beat the shit out of you."

They laughed again. Antonio calmly walked over and twisted Jack's arm. He yelped. "You won't like me when I'm angry," Tony snarled. Many people wouldn't suspect it, but Antonio can be very scary when he's angry. By this time, Lovino had gone under the slide and retrieved the bags of candy. The three were just staring at Antonio in astonishment before coming to their senses.

"Just remember that this ain't over," Nicky warned. "We fucked you up," he pointed to Feli, "before and we'll do it again."

"I'd like to see you try," he answered.

"Your little boyfriend and brother won't protect you forever," Jack grinned, although no one could see it because of the mask.

"Yes I will," Ludwig and Lovino answered. There was a tiny moment when Ludwig and Lovino looked at each other, and then awkwardly looked away.

"This is bullshit!" Jack exclaimed. "Let's just beat them up already!"

"Oh no, y'all won't!"

Who the hell was that? They turned to see a woman police officer standing there with her club in her hand.

"Why are you here?" Nicky asked with disgust.

" 'Scuse me?" she raised her eyebrows. "Are you disrespecting an officer?"

"No, Officer," he responded with a huff.

"That's what I thought. And for your information, it's dangerous for kids on Halloween. That's why I was strolling around here. Now you get out of here. Now."

They began to walk away slowly while muttering to each other about the officer being a bitch. "Move it!" she yelled. Their pace quickened and they left the park. The officer turned to them.

"Are you kids alright? What happened?"

"They're kids who go to our school," Ludwig answered. "They're bullies."

She shook her head. "Nothin' worse, is there? Well, I'm sorry that you guys have to deal with kids like them. But you kids should get home. It may be Halloween, but it's still not safe out here this late."

"Sure thing, Officer!" Antonio smiled brightly.

She smiled. "Good. If they come after you again threatening you just call 911, you hear?"

"Yes, Officer," they answered.

They walked home in silence until they reached Feliciano and Lovino's house. "Can I sleep over, Lovi?" Antonio asked. "I'm too tired to walk all the way home."

"Fine," he crossed his arms. "Use the spare clothes you have here. I'll tell Grandpa."

"Gracias," he kissed his cheek. Lovino wiped his cheek and went inside, Antonio following.

Feliciano sighed and his tired eyes looked up into Ludwig's. "Well tonight was fun… At least most of it."

"Yeah," Ludwig yawned. "Good thing that officer was there."

"Mmm." His tired eyes suddenly turned bright. "Ooo, I have an idea! Hey, Luddy, since fratello has Antonio sleeping over then you should sleep over!" He clapped his hands. "Ooo, it'll be fun!"

"Feli," he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm pretty tired."

"So? You can just sleep here!"

"People never sleep at sleepovers."

"True…But we will here! Please?"

Too tired to resist, he just nodded. "Okay, okay. I just have to double-check with my parents and get pajamas."

"Yes!" Feli squealed.

Seeing as their houses were only a couple blocks away, Ludwig's parents agreed. He packed pajamas and a toothbrush in a bag and walked back over to Feliciano's. The door was open but Feli wasn't in the living room.

"He's taking a shower," Roma informed him. "You can go upstairs and wait."

Ludwig waited outside the bathroom door for five minutes before he heard the water shut off. The bathroom door opened and Ludwig's jaw dropped to the floor.

"Ciao!" Feli beamed, totally unfazed by the fact that he was stark naked.

Ludwig's breath hitched in his throat and he was beyond red.

"F-Feliciano!" His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. "Wha…Why…Uh…"

Feli tilted his head to the side. "Hm? What's wrong? Why are you staring at me?"

Ludwig tore his gaze away from his boyfriend's (immaculate) naked body and closed his eyes.

"Please…go put some clothes on…"

"Okay!" he skipped into his bedroom.

Ludwig cursed under his breath when his pants felt a tad too tight. He washed the makeup off his face and took a shower, using Feliciano's sweet-smelling shampoo. He slipped on a pair of blue boxer shorts and a black tank top, briefly staring at his muscles in the mirror. He brushed his teeth and put his costume into his bag. He walked into the hallway to be greeted by a frowning Lovino, but then again he was always frowning.

"Look," he said quietly. "I don't like you…But you make my brother happy. And you protect him. I…" he looked away. "I just want you to…thank you for that."

Ludwig knew that if he showed his shock that Lovino would probably start cursing at him, so he grinned instead. "I'll take good care of him."

"You better," he walked back into his room.

Ludwig opened Feliciano's bedroom door quietly as he could, expecting him to be asleep. Surprisingly, he was sitting up on his bed. Ludwig was thankful that he had boxers on and an opened shirt. The Italian smiled. "I love your hair and down like that."

"Uh, thanks," he said on the bed next to him. Feli hugged him and nuzzled his face into the crook of the larger boy's neck. They kissed for a minute or two before Feli giggled.

"You smell wonderful," he purred.

The memory of Feli naked would not go away. Ludwig didn't say anything and just hugged him tighter. They lay down and went under the covers. Feli rested his ear over Ludwig's heart and smiled when he felt Ludwig's hand stroke his hair.

"Your brother talked to me," Ludwig mumbled drowsily. "He actually thanked me for protecting you."

"Wow…I never thought that would happen."

"Me either."

Feli's mind drifted to his essay. What should he write? He only had a paragraph done and it was due on Monday! But there was no need to worry about it now. It was too late. Or early. Technically it was past midnight. Whatever. Ludwig's breathing became deep and steady and Feli felt his hand stop moving. He lifted his head to see Ludwig fast asleep. He smiled and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight, Luddy."

* * *

***I actually don't remember when Obama said that. It definitely wasn't in October, but screw it.**

**Ohh, the fluff. For those of you who read THOOL and read the whole thing about me writing my essay on same-sex marriage and stuff, you probably recognized what Mrs. Tori said from there. I just wish someone said what Ludwig said.**

**Please review!~**


	12. Chapter 12

**My dear readers, a tragedy has struck in America. During the midnight screening of the new movie _The Dark Knight Rises_ in Aurora, Colorado, a gunman went into the theater and killed 12 people with 59 injured. The youngest victim was a baby only 3 months-old. The killer is in custody and told police that he is the Joker, the villain in the previous movie, _The Dark Knight. _He was wearing a mask. His apartment is full of bombs. There are some really sick fucks out there, and because of the "right to bear arms" stated in the Constitution, they can easily access guns.**

**Horrifying. I feel so fucking bad for those poor people. That's all I can say.**

* * *

It was Sunday night and Feliciano was staring at Microsoft Word on his laptop. It was late at night, but he couldn't sleep. He had stress-related dreams the past few nights, anyway. He dreamt that he was reading his essay and everyone was laughing at him, only to realize he was completely naked. Another dream was that Father Brooks was screaming at him while he was getting beat up by Nicky. He woke up after each dream with his teddy bear clenched in his hands (yes, he still had a teddy bear). He shook his head in frustration. Why couldn't he do this? Why couldn't he think of anything to write? His sigh came out more like a growl. He couldn't give up. He needed to prove Father Brooks, Mrs. Tori, Nicky, and whoever else wrong. He thought about his relationship with Ludwig. How was theirs different than a heterosexual relationship? _It's not, _he thought to himself. That's right. It's not. They care for each other and hug and kiss like everyone else. But other people don't see it that way. Why don't they? And how the hell does it affect them? With newfound determination, he began to type rapidly.

Here's a funny thing about Mrs. Tori: she's completely disorganized. If she says you were to present a project on Monday, you could expect to do it on Thursday. Feli was anxious the entire week about reading his essay. He worked his ass off to get it done and now he had to revolve around her schedule? Not right. Father Brooks was supposed to come in, but he cancelled at the last minute. He said he had some important appointment, or something. "I can't take this anymore!" Feli cried to Ludwig one day. "It's not fair! I'm so freaking nervous!"

"You're right," Ludwig agreed. "She told you Monday, and it's Friday afternoon. You spent the whole week waiting."

Feli groaned and put his head in his hands. "At this point I just want to get it done and over with. I hate that some people think I can't do it." He looked away. "I'm not as dumb as everyone thinks," he said quietly.

Ludwig looked astounded. "What? Who thinks you're dumb?"

"A lot of people," he frowned. "They think I'm just a bubbly idiot."

"Feliciano," he said so sternly that Feli looked up with worried eyes. "You are not dumb. You're just a bit of an airhead."

"There's a difference?" he asked miserably.

"Of course there is. You're just cheery a lot. I never thought that you were stupid."

Feli smiled. "Grazie."

* * *

A full week later, Father decided to stroll into the classroom with his maroon Bible once again in his hands. Father asked to hear Nicky's essay first. Nicky stood up with a small smirk on his face. He went to the front of the classroom and began to read. Basically, this was his message: God hates gays and children will become confused about their own sexuality if gay marriage is allowed, we shouldn't break tradition, and being gay is just plain wrong. A summarization:

"Marriage has always been a sacred thing between a man and a woman who love each other. It has always, for centuries, been just between a man and a woman. Why should we change it? Why break tradition?

Gays have been fighting now more than ever for the right to marry. Why should we allow it? The Bible specifically tells us that homosexuality is wrong. This is stated in many books in the Old Testament, and in Saint Paul's letters in the New Testament. If our Lord says it's wrong, why should we go against him? It is a sin, and we must try to abolish it from this world. God doesn't like gays, so we would be doing Him a favor. God does not want it, so neither should we. Couples are meant to reproduce, and gays cannot do that. According to the Bible, sexual intercourse is only to be used with the intention of reproducing. Gays cannot reproduce, so that makes gay relationships even worse."

At this he looked up from his paper to quickly eye Feliciano and Ludwig. He looked back down at his paper.

"Many people argue that homosexuality is not a choice. I think it is. They choose to be that way. Why? They want to be different and go against God. That explains why a lot of gays are atheists. They are not 'born that way.' Why should we allow these people to marry? Also, gay couples confuse children about sexuality. Children will ask questions like, 'But where's my mom?' or 'Where's my dad?' They will become confused about their own sexualities and think that it is okay to be attracted to someone of the same sex. We can't let that happen. We need to make sure our children aren't misguided. Also, allowing gays to marry may cause more people to become gay. If enough people become gay, then the world's population will shrink. Why would you want that to happen?

In conclusion, marriage needs to stay between a man and a woman. That is the only kind of love that s acceptable. It is all part of God's plan. A true family is a mother, father, and children; not two fathers or two mothers. We need to preserve the happiness of the traditional American family. Aside from faith, homosexual relationships are just morally wrong and disgusting. (He once again looked up to eye the gay couple). Marriage cannot be tarnished by these people."

You can imagine how Ludwig and Feliciano were feeling. Ludwig was driving a pen into his leg to prevent himself from going and ripping the bastard's throat out. Feliciano bit his lip so hard that he tasted blood. Elizaveta looked like she was ready to kill someone. Most of the girls did, actually. The boys who did not agree had uncomfortable looks on their faces. Even Mrs. Tori looked uncomfortable. "Um, Nicholas," she said, "I really wish that you would have made your essay a bit longer. And I told everyone that it really shouldn't be opinion-based, and that's really how it sounded."

Father's expression was indifferent.

"I'm going to save all comments until after the last essay has been read," he said. "Feliciano, your turn."

Feli nodded and stood up, glancing quickly at Ludwig and walking to the front of the room with wobbly steps. His heat was beating in his ears. He cleared his throat and began:

"What is the true definition of marriage? Should it only be between a man and a woman? Should we be able to authorize who can get married and who cannot? Why are same-sex couples not allowed to marry? Bans against same-sex marriage violate people's rights and go against the fundamental American ideal that "all men are created equal." Same-sex marriage should be legalized.  
Marriage is a bond between two people that love each other no matter their race or sexuality. Does the fact that a gay couple walking down the street is married harm you in any way, shape, or form? It doesn't, just as a marriage of the opposite sex doesn't affect you either. Just because you may not agree with the idea of homosexuality doesn't mean you should deny homosexuals their right to marry; it's their lives, not yours. When you really think about it, homophobia is extremely similar to racism. If you have hatred towards a certain group of people for something they have absolutely no control over, isn't that almost the same as judging someone by the color of their skin? Are you not judging someone by something that is a part of who they are? Some people believe that homosexuality is a choice. In addition, some people argue that if we allow gays to marry that more people will become gay. I disagree entirely. Why would someone choose to be gay when living in a society which oppresses them so? Many studies suggest that homosexuality is genetic, not by choice, because we are born with our sexual orientation. No matter if you are straight or gay, your true desires will remain the same for the rest of your life. Legalizing gay marriage won't change sexual orientation.  
Another argument is that the Bible specifically says that homosexuality is a sin, which it most certainly does. But remember, the Bile says a lot of things that we do not put into American law. In Leviticus 25: 44-46, the Bible tells you how you should buy your slaves. We obviously do not own slaves anymore. So, why do we ignore that Biblical law but still recognize the Biblical law against homosexuality? People pick and choose what they want to hear. While it is true that Saint Paul disagrees with homosexuality in 1 Corinthians and Romans, Jesus himself never uttered one word about homosexuality. If it were truly a horrible monstrosity, wouldn't our Lord have said so?  
Whether or not the Bible says homosexuality is a sin, should it really matter in the United States of America? The laws in this country are based on the Constitution—not the Bible. The Constitution clearly states that while religious freedom is allowed, no religion is to be favored by the government. One of the very reasons this country was formed was a desire to have separation between church and state. If religion should have a say, then why not have multiple wives like in Islam? Why do we stress the rules of Christianity and not other religions? The Church should not have a say in the government. Not everyone is Christian in this country and everyone must be respected.  
Same-sex marriage is a right that needs to be passed. Two consenting adults who just happen to be the same gender should be able to marry, no matter what other people might think. It is not a question of religion, but a question of equal treatment under the law. Marriage is for people who love each other, no matter their situation."

He looked up from his paper and looked at the class. He gave his paper to Mrs. Tori and walked back to his seat quietly, not looking at Nicky. Ludwig was smiling. Most people were surprised that Feli wrote so well, but Ludwig wasn't. Feli excelled in everything that had to do with the arts, so writing was no exception. He loved that essay. He couldn't have put it into better words himself. He had the urge to kiss Feli repeatedly and blushed at the idea. Feli felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. That part was over, but now was the hardest part of all: fighting Father Brooks.

"Well," Father sat down in the brown chair. "They were both very convincing essays. Let me start by saying I don't think that gay relationships are wrong, same with gays themselves." _That is such a lie, _Ludwig thought. "Just the sexual intercourse."

A girl raised her hand. "But sexual intercourse is a way to show love to another person."

"Yes, it is. But sex is reserved only for marriage and, like Nicky said, to reproduce. God intended it for no other reason."

"But sex is a human need," the same girl said.

"Look, I'm a priest. I abstain from sex and believe _me. _It's not that great anyway."

There was a long pause before Elizaveta raised her hand. "But the issue is not about gay sex. It's gay marriage."

"You know," he shifted in the chair, "There was a man in another country-I can't remember which- that went to the government _demanding _that he should be allowed to marry his cat. What if we allowed a man to marry his cat? Where should we draw the line?"

Feli's hand shot up. "There is a difference between marrying another human being and an animal, Father," his amber eyes were dark and narrowed.

"But where do we draw the line?"

"Like I said in my essay, we should allow two consenting adults to do whatever they want with their lives. And no matter what he says (he of course meaning Nicky); allowing gay marriage really won't change society that much!"

Father ran a hand through his graying black hair and turned to Mrs. Tori. "I don't think the message is sinking in. What do you have to say?"

She looked down. "I…I don't know, Father."

His blue eyes blinked in shock. "Wh…What?"

When she said nothing more, he turned back to the class. "As long as you are Catholic," his voice grew firm. "Gay marriage is something you should be against. As for you two," he pointed to Feliciano and Ludwig, who jumped in response. "Even if it ever gets legalized, don't ever think you can get married in the Church."

"Why would we want to?" Ludwig growled. "You and the Bible say that everyone is created equal in God's image and likeness. The fact that you ostracize people because of their sexuality completely goes against that, doesn't it?"

"You don't question God's word," his face grew red.

"I'm not," Ludwig leaned back in his chair, "I'm questioning yours."

* * *

Ludwig got a detention for that. Not that he cared. At all. In fact, he got out early enough to go to baseball practice. After class Mrs. Tori called Feli and Ludwig to the side so they could speak. "I just wanted to say that I'm proud of the two of you. Really. You were brave for not being afraid to state your beliefs. Feliciano, your essay was outstanding."

"Thank you," he replied shyly. She began to go back in the classroom when Feli called to her, "How do you feel about it now?"

Her steps were halted for a moment, but then she went on and shut her classroom door.

At baseball practice two teams were ordered to practice with each other. Ludwig and Joey were sitting on the floor waiting for their turn when a ball zoomed past their faces. They jumped back and looked to see Jack laughing. "Sorry!"

Joey shook his head. "He wasn't always a total asshole. Or maybe he was, and I was just one, too."

"To me it just seems like you were passive about everything," Ludwig was still glaring in Jack's direction.

Joey shrugged. "Yeah, I guess. I don't know. I guess I just wanted them as my friends so I just did whatever they told me. I'm surprised they haven't attacked me yet."

"You think they will?" Ludwig raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I think so. Maybe they wanna go after you two first. I dunno." He looked over at them sadly. Even if they were jackasses, he still grew up with them. "They're drama queens," he whispered to himself.

"How?" Ludwig's voice startled him slightly.

"They take their problems out on other people," he kept his voice low. "They've all got messed up family members. I might sound like a dick, but just because they have problems doesn't give them the right to take it out on other people."

"I completely agree," Ludwig said. "What do you mean when you say their family is messed up?"

"I mean Jack's aunt is a junkie." He quickly looked around to make sure no one was listening. "His parents always deal with her. Vinny's parents are divorced." He motioned for Ludwig to come closer. "His father left his mother for another man," he whispered.

"Wow," Ludwig kept his voice just as low. "You think that has to do with his hatred?"

"Yeah. But like I said, they don't have to take their problems out on other people."

Ludwig contemplated on the information in silence. It always seemed like bullies had their own problems. They like to feel in control over someone weaker because they're insecure. It always seems like a variation of the same story. But Joey didn't say anything about Nicky. Ludwig asked him about his family.

"As far as I know he has no real problems. I don't know what his motive is."

* * *

Meanwhile, Vinny was talking to Jack. "Come on! Hit him right in the head!"

"Come on, man. Do we really have to hurt him? I already scared the shit out of them."

"You're siding with him?" Nicky asked.

"No, but I mean…I mean, it's too obvious here, right?"

They agreed. "We've gotta get them," Nicky whispered. "The little queer thinks he won."

* * *

Feliciano waited for Ludwig to come out of baseball practice like he did the times before. The first thing Ludwig did was give him a bear hug.

"Yay!" Feli squeaked. "You usually don't greet me with hugs!"

"I'm just really proud of you," he let go. "Your essay was wonderful."

"Thanks~! I was so nervous! But you got another detention!"

Ludwig shrugged. "Like that really matters. Let's start walking."

Feli told him about how kids (mostly girls) came up to him and praised him not only for having a great essay, but for sticking it to Father.

"I was so happy! Mr. Jones gave me a high five!"

"How did Mr. Jones hear about it?"

"I don't know. Maybe Mrs. Tori told the teachers or something."

"Speaking of her," Ludwig stopped for a second to look both ways when crossing the street, which Feli failed to do. Luckily there weren't any cars. "Wasn't it a little weird that she was speechless? I know Father was surprised."

"Ooo, yeah! I wonder what that was about."

When Feliciano came home with Ludwig they walked in on an unexpected site. Gilbert, Antonio, and Francis were in front of the TV playing _Just Dance _on a Nintendo Wii. Francis had his shirt off and his movements were a lot more sensual than necessary.

"You have a Wii?" Feli asked.

"No," Ludwig stared at the gaming device. "Gilbert, whose is this?"

"It's mine!" Francis said between hip thrusts. The only movement really required by _Just Dance _was moving your arms. There was no need for hip thrusts. None. "Gilbert asked if I could bring it over." He looked over for a moment to wink. "Hey, Feli!"

"Hey Francis!"

"Why don't you come over here and join us? There's an extra remote. Maybe you could dance next to me."

Ludwig grabbed Feli's hand and brought him upstairs, muttering something about how he wasn't going to let that pervert touch his boyfriend. His cheeks burned as the trio whooped and Gilbert told Ludwig to use protection, and that he has some lube in his room if he needs it. Whether or not that was true, Ludwig was not going to find out. Truth be told, Feli did get embarrassed when Gilbert or whoever would make sex jokes about them, too. But looking at Ludwig's shocked expression every single time made him too happy to care.

"Those idiots," Ludwig muttered when he shut his bedroom door and sat down on his bed, putting his face in his hands. "They're so immature."

Feliciano felt a bit impish, so he smiled and sat down next to him and said in the most innocent voice he could muster, "Veh, Ludwig? What's lube?" His smile widened a bit when Ludwig visibly tensed.

"W-well," Ludwig sat up. "It's a special s-substance that's kind of like Vaseline…but it can be …flavored," he barely managed the last word out of his mouth.

"Oh," he tilted his head to the side (he genuinely _did_ do that when confused, but he did it this time to add effect). "So it helps with insertion?"

"Yes," he replied quickly.

"Okay. But what gets inserted? And why is it flavored?" Feli enjoyed making Ludwig extremely awkward.

Ludwig smacked his forehead and silently asked God why he was being punished. "I'll tell you when you're older," slipped out.

"Older? But I'm as old as you!"

_Oh yeah. _Feli acted so young that Ludwig forgot about his real age for a minute. "Okay. It's for easy insertion of…body parts. The flavoring if for people to l-lick off."

"Ohh, you mean they lick it off their privates?" Feli gave a fake nod of understanding. "I see."

Ludwig sighed. "Please don't ask me these questions."

"Okay," Feli laughed.

They sat in silence before Ludwig remembered something. "At practice today they tried to hit me and Joey with the ball."

"They didn't hit you, did they?"

"No, but they came pretty close. They're not finished with us yet," he shook his head. "They're going to keep trying to hurt us until they succeed. And it'll probably be worse than last time." He gasped when Feli tackled him in a hug.

"Please," his voice was slightly muffled by Ludwig's chest. "I don't want to think about it."

Ludwig hugged him back and pressed the smaller teen more on his chest. "Alright. I'm sorry."

Feliciano was still scared. It didn't matter what he would say to them; their minds wouldn't change. He could deal with Father Brooks, because Father wouldn't hurt him. But they have proven many times in the past that their intentions were violent. The fear of going out and running into them wasn't just anxiety. It was very real. He was always a weakling. He could never fight them. Ludwig couldn't protect him his whole life. Ludwig had to protect himself, too. But being here with Ludwig was still reassuring. Having someone caring for him made the fear go away. Even for just a little bit. Without Ludwig, he didn't know what he would do…But what if something happened to Ludwig?

The German felt his boyfriend begin to tremble and rubbed his back. His poor little Feli was so worried. Who wouldn't be? He was worried, as well. He knew that he couldn't fight them off forever.

Feli's eyes widened slightly when he felt Ludwig's chest rumble. He heard a low sound going along in a tune…Was Ludwig humming? Feli looked up to see Ludwig's face beat red.

"Ludwig," he smiled. "Are you-"

"Shh," Ludwig put his hand on the back of Feli's head and put it back down on his chest. "You seemed upset so….Just shh."

"Please continue! Your voice is nice! I wish you would actually sing, though."

"Don't push it," he replied sternly. Even though he was embarrassed as hell, he continued to hum some German song he heard when he was a kid. Feli couldn't stop smiling. His Ludwig had a very pretty voice. _Maybe one day he'll serenade me. _His mind drifted to when Father Brooks told them that they would never be able to marry in the Church. That really didn't matter to him. What if him and Ludwig did get married one day? Not that he would venture to say he loved Ludwig, but everyone dreams about marrying their boyfriend or girlfriend once, right? He could picture Ludwig going up to the altar and fainting. Better yet, fainting when trying to propose. He giggled into his hand.

Ludwig stopped humming. "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing. Just my imagination," he kissed Ludwig's cheek.

* * *

Surprisingly, the rest of the week was pretty normal. Mrs. Tori's religion classes had nothing to do with homosexuals and Father did not visit the classroom. The bullies kept their distance and Mr. Jones was his normal hyperactive self. It was like nothing ever happened and frankly, they thought it was better that way. That weekend Ludwig and Feliciano went out to dinner at a local diner. Being teenagers without a job, that's all they could afford. Rather, that's all Ludwig could afford. He insisted that he would pay for Feliciano's dinner. The Italian of course ordered a big plate of spaghetti. Feli went to Ludwig's baseball game earlier that day and spent the whole time staring at him in his uniform. Ludwig was annoyed because their team lost 7-4, but Feli reassured him that it wasn't his fault, that his team should have gotten more home runs. Since it was the middle of November, the sun set quickly and it was already dark outside. Feli hated the winter. The only advantage of the cold weather was being able to cuddle. They were walking home hand-in-hand when they decided to take a short cut through a long drive way that was near their house. Their breaths came out as small puffs of fog as it hit the cold air. Their steps echoed down the drive way. Through Feli's endless chatter, Ludwig could hear there were footsteps that did not match their own. He put his arm out to stop Feli from walking and put a finger to his lips, signaling him to be quiet. The footsteps continued in the same slow rhythm. It's strange how instincts can make a person just act, not think. Ludwig and Feli gave each other a look that said "we need to get out of here!" They grabbed each other's hands and began to jog out of the driveway. They instantly stopped when they saw the glimmer of a switchblade shining in the night.

* * *

**Nicky's essay was the hardest part of writing this chapter. And yes, Feliciano's essay was the one I wrote for school. Actually, "Mrs. Tori" never gave it back to me and I don't even know what grade I got! It'll bother me for the rest of my life. Lol.**

**Ooo, cliffhanger.**

**Please review!~**


	13. Chapter 13

**Sorry for the late update. I started my summer assignments. By the way, if you're interested in Holocaust stories then I highly reccomend that you read _Night. _It's all about the author's experience in Aushwitz. Very powerful.**

**I went to Otakon! Sadly we could only go on Friday. I was seriously the only Italy there! I did not see another Italy that wasn't either fem! or Hentai. It was better for me I guess because then people took more pictures for me. Were you there? I was the Italy traveling around with a Sebastian and Ciel from Black Butler. It was fun but I was SO MAD that I couldn't but R-18 doujinshi :(**

**OMG I AM SO FREAKING HAPPY THAT THERE'S GOING TO BE A SEASON 5 OF HETALIA! **

**Have you been watching the Olympics? I may love other countries and everything but GO USA!**

**I can't believe I reached over 200 reviews! Thank you guys SO MUCH for your constant support. Seriously, your reviews make me really happy. :)**

**Random question, am I the only one who finds Hiroki Yasumoto (the Japanese voice actor for Germany) really hot?**

**Enjoy!~**

* * *

Surprisingly, there were no screams. Ludwig and Feliciano's voices seemed to die in their throats. They couldn't scream even if they wanted to. All they could do was stare in utter shock and fear, squeezing each other's hands so tightly it hurt. Nicky, Vinny, and Jack stepped forward with devilish smirks on their features. With each step they took forward the couple took a step back. How they were able to follow them without noticing, they had no clue. Joey was right that they weren't through with them yet. They didn't think that a _weapon_ would be involved, though. Scratch that. _Weapons. _Vinny and Nicky had switchblades. "Scared?" Nicky asked calmly.

Feli broke down. "P-please don't hurt us!" he choked. They laughed. Laughed! The look of raw fear in Feli's eyes humored them. It's the kind of humor only a bully gets. Or a psychopath. Either one. "We never did anything to you!" Ludwig yelled. "What is your motive for hurting us?" They laughed again. Everything was so damn humorous to them. Except that Jack wasn't laughing. He was looking at his friends with a disturbed expression. What the…? Not answering, Nicky nodded his head and the others sprang into action. Jack yanked Ludwig's arm and pulled him forward roughly, nearly knocking him to the ground. Feliciano and Ludwig's hands broke contact and they reached out to each other, desperately trying to grab each other's hands again. Feli gasped and jumped back when Vinny came forward with the blade.

"Don't pay attention to him!" Nicky ordered. "Just help get this bastard down!"

Ludwig and Jack were wrestling on the ground, Ludwig beginning to overpower the weaker boy. Vinny grabbed Ludwig by his hair threw his head down on the ground. Hard. Lightheaded and beginning to bleed, Ludwig's muscles felt like jelly and he was barely able to push himself back up, only to be held by Jack and Vinny. He turned his spinning head to Feliciano, who was rooted to the ground in horror. He wanted to scream at him to run, but the impact of his head hitting the hard cement made everything extremely fuzzy. He panted and tried to talk, but it came out as a groan. Feli didn't need Ludwig to tell him to run, though. As much as he wanted to help his boyfriend, he was no match for three boys with two blades. He turned around and set his legs at high speed. Nicky leaned down and grabbed Ludwig by one of his arms. "Go chase him," he ordered Jack. "I'll stay here with Vinny and the queer."

"Give me one of your blades," he got up from the ground. Vinny tossed him his switchblade and Jack ran in Feliciano's direction.

The Italian was running through the park he and Ludwig were at on Halloween. He may not have been good at sports, but he could run faster than any Olympian. He was panting heavily and the cold air was refreshing against his hot skin. He hid under the slide and brought his knees to his chest, sobbing quietly. Why did he have to be so damn useless? He left Ludwig all alone with those three maniacs! They could kill him! But what could he do? He had to defend himself, and if that meant running away then he'll be a coward. The image of Ludwig being tortured by them, bloody and screaming, flashed before his eyes. He yelped and immediately covered his mouth, looking around the deserted park. Another reason why he hated winter: the nights were dead. If it were the summer, the sun would have just been setting and children would still be here. But no. It was cold and bitter outside so everyone was in their houses, safe and warm. Why did they have to take that shortcut? They could have simply walked the long way along the sidewalk with houses near them. Then they wouldn't have tried anything, at least not tonight. Wiping his tears away he put a hand over his heart. It felt like it was about to burst out of his chest. He got an idea. _I'm so stupid. _He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the one number every kid was taught to call in case of emergencies, 911. He frantically told the woman on the phone the situation, his name, his location, and the location of Ludwig. He hung up the phone and began trembling. He hoped to God that the police would get there in time before Ludwig got seriously hurt. He heard someone run into the park. He peeked his head out from under the slide to see Jack looking around with a knife. He went back under the slide but kept his eyes locked on the taller boy. He could feel each heartbeat in his chest. Jack's eyes fell on the slide. Feli's eyes grew wider when he started to walk in his direction. He hoped- _prayed_- that Jack didn't see him. Jack ducked down and yelled, "Found you!" Feliciano quickly rolled in the opposite direction and ran out from under the slide. Above the slide was a jungle gym. He quickly climbed to the top. Jack looked up at him and for a second, Feli thought that he looked scared. He then put the blade in his mouth so he could use his hands to climb to the top. Feli waited until Jack got close enough to kick him in the head, sending the other back down to the ground with a _thud._

"You bastard!" he was near tears. "Just leave us alone! How could you do this to us? We never hurt you! How could you betray Joey by wanting to hurt him?"

Jack rubbed his head and looked up at him. "Me betray him? He betrayed us!"

"By not wanting to hurt us? Is that so bad? He was your friend!"

Jack wobbled to his feet. "But he's gay…"

"So what?" he yelled.

"I thought he was cool and it turns out he likes guys!" he threw his arms in the air. "And he used to stare at me and…"

He knit his eyebrows together. "Wait, is that it?" His amber eyes widened. "You can't accept the fact that he likes you!"

"Shut up! He doesn't like me!" he howled and swung the blade forward, nearly missing Feliciano's feet.

"That's it!" Feli grinned spitefully. "You never thought that your best friend would be gay and like you so you took it out on him and us!" Jack's teeth were gritted and his hands were shaking, but he stayed silent. Feli's grin disappeared. "Am I wrong?"

"….No. I noticed him staring at me in ninth grade and…" he shook his head. "But this isn't about Joey. I was sent here to catch you."

"If you try to come up here again I'll kick you. All those kicks in the head aren't healthy."

Jack sighed in defeat. "I wasn't actually going to stab you anyway…"

"You weren't?" Feli blinked.

"I'm not a nice guy, but I can't hurt anyone," he put the blade in his pocket.

"You beat me up that day!" Feli was getting angry.

"I know," he looked away. "I…I don't know! Nicky said so and he's like our leader and I can't disagree with him."

"Why the hell not?"

"He'll hurt me, too. He has before." There was a loop of silence before he spoke again. "Feliciano, (Feli was surprised that he used his actual name instead of an insult) please come down."

"No!" he shook his head. "I'm not falling for that!"

"Okay," he sighed. "If I give _you_ the blade will you trust me?"

"You trust me with that?"

"Dude, I may not know you very well, but I do know that you won't hurt a fly." He took the blade out and slowly set it on top of the jungle gym next to Feliciano.

Feli picked up the blade and stared at it in his hands. "How did they even get these?"

"It's their fathers," Jack said. "Listen. I don't think Vinny would actually stab Ludwig, but I know for a fact that Nicky would. We need to get there before he does."

"Why do you want to help?" he was still wary.

"It's the only way I can apologize."

"You can say you're sorry."

He sighed again. "I'm sorry, Feliciano. I'm sorry for bullying you and Ludwig and for hurting you."

Feli came down from the jungle gym and couldn't suppress the smile that tugged at his lips. "Okay…Oh! I called the cops. They should be getting there shortly!"

All of the color drained from Jack's face. "Oh shit…I'm going to jail…"

"Eh? No you won't! Not if I tell that that you didn't hurt me and helped save Ludwig, which we will in a few minutes!"

"But-"

"There's no time to be standing around! We have to help him!" He began to run out of the park and in the direction of the parking lot. Jack followed close behind, hoping that Ludwig was alright. They conversed as they ran. "How come Nicky never hurt Joey if he's bisexual?" Feli asked through pants.

"I'm the only one that knows," Jack said. "I told him that he never should tell anyone else and that he should just try to like girls."

"Why'd you tell him that?"

"For his safety," he answered simply. "I won't let him get hurt." Feli nodded and they continued to run in silence, the parking lot in sight. Feli's pace quickened with determination. He was useless every time before, he needed to save Ludwig now.

Meanwhile, as all of this was happening, Ludwig felt the cold surface of the switchblade touch his cheek. His mind was starting to get back into focus. "Why?" he asked. If he was going to die here, which he might if they felt like going that far, he at least wanted to know. He bit his bottom lip when the blade was pressed into his soft flesh, drawing blood.

"It's not about a motive," Nicky rolled his hazel eyes. "Not everything is like a fuckin' movie where the bad guy had a troubled past and blah, blah, blah..." He moved the knife back and looked into Ludwig's frightened eyes. Ludwig's cheek stung and he felt a warm liquid rolling down his cheek. "Sometimes," Nicky whispered. Ludwig hissed in pain when he was stabbed through his coat and in his side, right near his ribs. He inhaled sharply and his breaths came out as pants. "It's just about hurting people," Nicky finished his statement with a smirk.

"Woah Nicky," Vinny's voice shook a little, "I thought we weren't really going to cut him!"

"Why not?" he growled.

"I'm all for scarin' him but I mean this is a little much…"

Nicky abruptly removed the knife and Ludwig screamed in pain, now crying in agony. He tried his best to hold back his tears but failed. But he wasn't worried about his own wellbeing. He was worried about Feliciano's. Was he being hurt as well? His poor little Feli all alone and scared…

"You with me or against me?" he waved the blood-covered knife in front of Vinny's face. Vinny gulped. "W-with you."

"That's what I thought." He shoved the knife back into Ludwig's other side, earning a loud cry from the German. He twisted the knife around and Ludwig's cries grew louder.

"Bitte! Stop!"

"No!" Vinny got up and released Ludwig's arms. "This is way too fucking much!" Ludwig fell back a little bit from the lack of support and Nicky took out the knife. Ludwig whimpered in pain and fully collapsed on the ground, holding his sides in pain and crying. His head was still spinning from being banged against the ground. He felt nauseous. Through his anguish and the other's distraction he started to crawl away from them. He looked up from the ground and saw two people running to him. _Feli?_

Nicky opened his mouth to say something but turned around when he heard footsteps. He saw Feliciano- perfectly unharmed- and Jack pulling Ludwig to his feet.

"What the hell? I told you to go after him!"

"I did," Jack said, looping one of Ludwig's arms around his shoulders. "And now I'm helping him save his boyfriend."

Feli nearly shrieked at the sight of crimson staining Ludwig's jacket, forehead and cheek. Tears streamed down his face and he shifted so Ludwig could lean on him more. Ludwig breathed his boyfriend's name and closed his eyes, his dizziness starting to really take over since he was brought up from the ground so quickly. Feli remembered the blade he had in his pocket and took it out and threw it in Vinny's direction.

"Traitor!" Nicky yelled. He walked forward with the bloody blade in his hand. He stopped when sirens filled the air. His eyes widened and he began to panic. "Aw damn! We're in really deep shit now!" Three police cars zoomed into the parking lot and out came four officers with their guns pointed at the group. "Drop the weapon!"

Nicky dropped the knife and began to cry. "I'm s-sorry!"

Vinny put his hands up and shook in fear. Ludwig almost smiled. _Cowards. _Obviously, the police didn't have an idea who was wrong or what exactly was going on so they arrested all of them, with the exception of Ludwig who was sent to the hospital for his wounds. Feli cried when an officer handcuffed him and pushed him into a police car. Even though he didn't do anything wrong, it still wasn't a pleasant experience. It took over an hour of explaining at the police station to clear things up. Feliciano was free to go. Since Nicky, Jack and Vinny were minors (they were a few months shy of turning eighteen), they were set to go to a juvenile court in a couple days and, if found guilty of harming Ludwig, to a juvenile detention center. Calls were made and the three weren't allowed to go to school. Feli had mixed feelings about Jack. He really did. Jack hurt him before, but helped him this time. Should he forgive him? Roma and Lovino rushed to the station to get Feliciano. Roma hugged his grandson tight. "Thank God you're not hurt," he cried. Feli cried into his grandfather's shoulder. He looked up and saw Lovino with tears in his eyes. Lovi held out his arms. "Hug me, bastard!" Feli ran to him and tackled him in a hug. "Don't ever scare me like that again!" Lovino cried. Feli nodded and continued to cry for a minute more.

"_Ti amo cosi tanto," _he smiled sadly.

"_Ti amo anch'io," _Roma smiled back.

"_Si…Ti amo," _Lovino said shyly.

They left the police station and sat in the car in silence. Roma and Lovino didn't want to ask about Ludwig. Feli stared out the car window with tears in his eyes the entire ride. As soon as they got home he ran to his room and shut the door He jumped on his bed and began sobbing into his pillow. "Ludwig!" his voice was muffled by fabric. He could imagine his Ludwig being stabbed and yelling in pain. The giant red marks on his jacket were etched into his mind. The total look of helplessness, one that he had never seen on Ludwig's face before. Ludwig was always so strong. What if the wounds were fatal? Feliciano sobbed louder and he didn't hear his bedroom door open. Roma frowned and walked over to Feli and put his hand on his shoulder. Feli looked up. Roma's heart broke when he saw Feli's large eyes red and overflowing with tears. He sat on the bed and hugged his grandson. Feli cried into his shirt. "N-nonno," he choked. "L-Ludwig..."

"He's a strong boy," Roma stroked Feli's hair (avoiding the curl). "I'm sure he's fine." Roma hated to see his beloved grandsons upset. It made him upset, too. Whenever Feliciano or Lovino would cry when they were children, he would hold them and sing them Italian lullabies until their tears stopped or they would fall asleep. Sometimes he would only have to hold them for a few minutes, but sometimes it had to be hours. After fifteen minutes Feli's sobs finally stopped. He sat up and looked at his grandfather. Roma wiped away his stray tears. "Everything is going to be okay, Feli." Feli wasn't sure about that, but he nodded.

"I'm sleepy," he rubbed one of his eyes to prove it. "I'm going to sleep now."

"Okay," he stood up. "Call me if you need anything."

He nodded. When Roma left the room he changed out his clothes and into fluffy pajamas. He normally didn't like sleeping in pajamas, but the fluffiness did comfort him a little. He curled up under the covers and felt tears form again. How could he sleep when his boyfriend was injured? He was probably all alone in the hospital. Did his family know about him? Were they there with him? Despite his worries, he was too exhausted to stay awake for another minute.

The first thing that Ludwig felt when he regained consciousness was the gruesome pain in his head. He groaned and put his hand on his head. He felt a rough surface on his head. Then he felt a sharp pain in his sides. He opened his eyes and saw a white ceiling. He inhaled and grimaced. There was a heavy odor of medicine. He turned his head and saw a blue curtain. At the end of the curtain was the end of a bed. He looked down and realized that he was in a bed. _Am I in a hospital? _He tried to sit up by the shooting pains in his sides and head were preventing him. He huffed and lay back down. He looked down at his chest and saw he was wearing a gown. Okay, he was definitely in a hospital. He felt something on his cheek. When he touched it he again touched a rough surface. Out of curiosity he put his hands under his hospital gown and felt his sides. He felt the same thing. Were they bandages? He put his hand back on his head and closed his eyes. He remembered what happened last night. He and Feliciano were walking through the empty parking lot when they showed up. They got him to the ground and Feli ran away. His head was banged onto the ground and it made him disoriented. Jack followed him and Nicky stabbed him. Jack came back with Feliciano unharmed. He vaguely remembered being helped by them and the sirens of police cars. Did he pass out after that? He must have if he had no memory of arriving at the hospital or being treated. Was Feliciano okay? Was he here? He opened his eyes when a door opened on the opposite side of the room. A tall male nurse stepped inside. He was holding supplies and when he looked at Ludwig, he smiled.

"Hey, you're awake."

"How long have I been out?" his voice croaked slightly.

"A day and a half," the nurse put the supplies on the table next to him.

"_A day and a half?" _Ludwig yelped.

"You suffered a really bad head injury," he frowned. "We were surprised that you don't have a concussion, thank goodness."

Ludwig didn't say anything else and watched the nurse's actions. "I'm going to change your bandages," he said. Ludwig gave a slight nod and let the nurse do his work. He frowned at the sight of his wounds on his sides/stomach. "These are pretty bad, too," the nurse remarked. "You poor kid." Ludwig hated being cared for like this. It made him feel like a child. Before the nurse left, Ludwig asked, "Hey, um, has my family been here?"

"Yes, actually. Your parents and your brother. They said they'll come by again after the trial."

"Trial?"

"Yeah, something about the kids that hurt you. Sorry, but that's all I heard." The nurse left and Ludwig was left alone in thought. He had no idea what time it was and there was nothing to do. He yawned and impatiently waited for someone to visit him.

A full two hours later, Ludwig's parents, brother, Feliciano, Antonio, Arthur, Mr. Jones, Francis, Kiku, and Elizaveta were arguing with Ludwig's doctor outside of his room.

"We're his friends and family!" his father yelled. "We should be allowed to see him!"

"There are too many of you," the doctor insisted.

"We're skinny people!" Mr. Jones said. "We'll fit in that room!"

"Some of you will have to wait outside and take turns!"

Feliciano's eyebrow twitched and he walked up to the doctor. "You listen to me," he growled. "We care about Ludwig and we want to see him! You're telling us that we can't? I'll break down that fucking door to see my Luddy! Understood?"

The doctor cleared his throat and straightened his white coat. "Fine. You all can go in."

Feli smiled. "Thank you!" They all rushed in the room at full speed and nearly tripped over each other when they went through the door. Ludwig lifted his head and shifted so he was sitting up.

"Wow," he didn't expect ten people to show up, especially his history teacher.

"WEEESSSSST!" Gilbert ran past everyone and grabbed his younger brother's arm. "I thought you were gonna leave the Awesome Me!" Translation: "I thought you were going to die and leave me! I love you so much!"

Ludwig smiled. "I love you too, East."

Ludwig's parents went to their son and grabbed his hands. "You really scared us, Luddy," Mrs. Beilschmidt had tears in her eyes.

"I'm okay," he smiled sadly. "Don't cry, Mutti."

When the three Germans pulled away Ludwig's eyes met Feliciano's. Feli's lip quivered and his eyes sparkled with tears. "Ludwig…"

Ludwig held out his arms and Feli ran to him and cried in his chest. As much as Ludwig hated showing his affection for Feliciano around other people, he wrapped his arms around Feli and inhaled the familiar scent of tomato and roses. God, he adored his little Italian. Arthur raised his humongous eyebrows when he heard a sniffle next to him. "Why are you crying, Frog?" he asked Francis.

"They're relationship is so beautiful!" he wiped his eyes.

"It really is!" Alfred cried behind him. Arthur shook his head. Why did he put up with those two?

"I was so worried about you, Feli," Ludwig whispered.

"You were worried about me? I was worried about you!"

"I didn't know where you ran off to," he pulled back so they could look at each other. "Can you tell me what happened?"

He told him how Jack caught up to him, teaming up, and what happened when they got back to him. "You were so hurt and bloody," Feli whimpered. "It must have hurt so much!"

"I don't usually complain about pain, but I will admit that it was probably the worst pain I ever felt." Everyone frowned and Feli started to cry again. "But I'm okay now!" he reassured him. "By the way, what happened today?" Everyone then informed him of the outcome of the trial.

"Those dicks are going to juvy!" Gilbert said. "Well, Jack just has to pay a huge ass fine and stay for like a week but the other two are going to be there for months!"

"Really? For how long?"

"Like ten months!" Mr. Jones said.

"Good," Ludwig sighed in relief. "We won't have to see them for a long time."

"You probably won't have to see them again," Mr. Beilschmidt said. "You'd have graduated by then."

"Oh yeah!" Feli smiled.

"I can't believe we'll be graduating high school," Kiku said. "It seems so surreal."

The students frowned and looked at each other. Feli ran up to his friends and managed to pull all of them in a hug. "I'm going to miss you guys!"

"We're not graduating yet!" Eliza laughed. "Calm down, Feli."

"We still have months," Francis smiled.

"But it'll go by so fast!" Feli sniffed. "So I guess we have to have fun now, right?" He broke the hug and ran back to Ludwig. "Don't leave me after graduation!" He started to frantically cover Ludwig in kisses.

"I-I won't!" Ludwig pushed him away and turned away, his blush reaching his ear. Everyone else chuckled and Ludwig blushed even more.

Ludwig was able to leave the hospital the following day. "The wounds will heal on their own," the doctor told his parents. "His bandages just need to be changed frequently."

Ludwig was sitting in his room with Feliciano listening to his boyfriend's chatter about the school day he missed.

"And then Mr. Jones made Arthur blush when he said he loves Brits and think they're tsundere!"

"What's tsundere?" Ludwig asked.

"Veh, it's a Japanese term usually used in anime."

"How does Mr. Jones know about anime?"

"He loves Japanese stuff!"

Ludwig shook his head. "How he ever got a teaching job, I'll never know."

Feli laughed and hugged Ludwig, making sure to be gentle so he wouldn't aggravate his wounds. Feli's smile faded and his voice became serious. "Ludwig?"

"Yes?" he noticed the tone of his voice.

"I'm just…I'm just really glad you're okay," his amber eyes met Ludwig's oceanic ones. He buried his face in the crook of the larger boy's neck. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

Ludwig moved his legs so Feli was sitting in his lap. "I was so worried Jack got to you. I couldn't bear to see you hurt again like that night."

Feli lifted his head and kissed Ludwig's cheek. "I'm just grateful he had a change of heart."

"I wonder why…"

"Joey," Feli said. "It's because of Joey. I didn't tell you?"

"Nope."

"He told me that it was hard for him to accept that his best friend is bisexual. He's the only one in the group who knows and told Joey never to tell anyone. He said it was for his protection. He said that Nicky threatened and hurt him so he would hurt us. In the police station he told me that they were planning to hurt Joey, but he told Joey not to go out that night. He said he was stupid and was really beating himself up over it."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "Do you think that he and Joey might…"

"I think so." Feli smiled. "And I should know; Italians have a sixth sense when it comes to romance."

"Oh ja," Ludwig rolled his eyes.

"We're the best lovers," Feli said before kissing Ludwig on the lips.

"Prove it," Ludwig breathed against Feli's lips before going in and nipping Feli's neck. Feli's breath hitched and his fingers tangled in Ludwig's hair. Ludwig bit and sucked so that there would be a lovely hickey for everyone to see. Feli buried his head in Ludwig's shoulder to prevent himself from moaning. Since he was sitting in Ludwig's lap, he felt it when Ludwig's pants got tight (which only made his own body respond). Ludwig stopped and blushed and looked away in embarrassment. Feli put his hand on Ludwig's chin and turned his head so he was facing him. "It's okay," he smiled. Ludwig smiled and leaned down so that Feli was lying on the bed and he was hovering over him with hungry eyes. Feli grinned and put his arms around Ludwig's neck to pull him down for another kiss. "Prove that Germans are good lovers," Feli purred into his ear and then bit on his earlobe. They both jumped when Ludwig's bedroom door opened.

"Hey West, I-" Gilbert stopped midsentence and blinked his scarlet eyes before smirking. "Ooo, West! I knew you'd get it in someday!"

"GET THE FUCK OUT!" Ludwig threw his pillow at Gilbert's head.

"WAIT A SECOND!" he ran out of the room and ran back in within a few seconds. "YOU'LL NEED THIS!" he threw two items at them. Before any questions could be asked he closed the door with a "Good luck!" They looked on the floor to see a condom and lube. Ludwig face palmed and growled. "Veh, well let's not let these go to waste," Feli whispered in Ludwig's ear. Ludwig choked on air and stared at Feli with wide eyes.

Outside of Ludwig's room, Gilbert put a sock over his younger brother's bedroom doorknob. He then called Francis. "They finally got it in!"

* * *

**No sex for you! Still keeping this rated T. I didn't feel like putting the trial in there because I'm a lazy bitch who didn't feel like looking up the rules of the American government. **

**Um...I don't know what to do for the next chapter! I honestly made up every chapter on the spot. It's not like the last story where I had it planned. This story was not planned at all. Do you guys have any suggestions?**

**I got a request to write a seperate fanfiction of student!Arthur and teacher!Alfred. Like it would be the same story but in their eyes, I guess. To be honest I'm all for writing a story about them but I'm not sure about it being the same setting, you know? Let me know.**

**Hey, am I the only one who ships both FrUk and UsUk? I really like both pairings.**

**Please review!~**


	14. Chapter 14

**It's been over two weeks since the last chapter! :O I feel disgusted with myself. I'm so sorry *bows down on the floor* I've been preoccupied with some of my summer assignments (still didn't start the math packet) and playing _Batman: Arkham Asylum _and _Batman: Arkham City._ If you're a gamer, then I HIGHLY recommend those games. They're amazing. The second is better than the first, though.**

**Anyway, I found out J. Michael Tatum is gay (yeah, I'm slow). I should not have been as happy as I was when I found that out. Lol.**

**I'm sad the Olympics are over. Those people are just incredible. I love how people call Americans fat and stupid and yet we got the most medals and at the same time landed on Mars... Alfred just doesn't show his strength all the time :P**

**By the way, in the last chapter, putting a sock on a door means that the people inside are having sex. A few people didn't know that.**

**Pairing question: Am I the only one who hates Prussia x Canada? Seriously, they never met in the show! I'm not saying that the stories are bad, it's just...that pairing makes no sense.**

**Enjoy!~**

* * *

Feliciano blinked sleep away from his eyes and sat up in Ludwig's bed, stretching with a wide yawn. Forgetting where he was, he moved his legs to get out of bed and accidentally kicked Ludwig. _Oh yeah, I spent the night with Luddy! _Ludwig groaned and looked at Feli, waiting for an explanation.

"Oops! Sorry! I forgot you were there," he laughed.

"Forgot I was there? It's my house!"

"I know. Tee hee. How long have you been awake?"

"Only for a little while," he moved to sit up. The dull pain in his sides was quickly replaced by a sharp pain that shot up his bottom and lower back. "Shit!" he gritted his teeth and flopped back down on the mattress.

Feli frowned at his boyfriend's displeasure, feeling sorry because he was the one who caused it. "Need help getting up?" He nodded and Feli climbed over Ludwig, being careful not to crush him. Ludwig blushed when Feli stood next to his bed naked with a goofy grin on his face. Feli helped him out of bed and they started to clean up their clothes from the floor.

"Veh, you know what I was wondering?"

"What?'

"Why does Gilbert have lube and condoms?"

Ludwig sighed. "Feli, the less I know about my brother, the better. Although, I have a feeling that he might have gotten them from Francis…"

"Oh, okay…Hey, what day is it?"

"It's Wednesday. Why?"

"Oh crap, I have to go to school," he said almost indifferently.

Being the structured person Ludwig is, he crossed his arms and began to scold. "Feliciano, how could you forget about school? It's important! You cannot skip school today! It's irresponsible!"

"But Ludwiiig," he whined. "I don't wanna! Besides, it's past the morning bell!"

Ludwig looked at the clock on his bedside table and rolled his eyes. "It's only 6:15. You can perfectly make it in time."

"6:15? I never wake up that early!" He pouted, but then smiled and put his arms around Ludwig's shoulders. "But we did go to bed early after last night after our _activity_," he purred.

Ludwig gulped and shook Feli off his shoulders. "Nice try. I'm going to school and so are you."

"Whaaat? But you can't go to school! You're still injured! And you're sore!"

"I'm fine. Nothing will be accomplished by sitting in bed all day."

Options raced through Feli's mind so he could find a way to skip school. "Umm…But we smell like sweat and junk!"

"That's what showers are for," he handed Feli his clothes from yesterday. "Put these on so you don't have to run to your house naked. Go home, take a shower, and put on a fresh uniform." Feli opened his mouth to protest but Ludwig put a finger over his lips. "If I do not see you at school this morning, I will not be pleased."

Feli growled. "Fine."

Ludwig kissed his cheek. "I'll walk you to the front door. And, um…last night was…" he looked away and cleared his throat.

Feli smiled. "I know."

Ludwig walked down the steps in pajama pants with Feli following behind in his disheveled uniform. Gilbert was feeding Gilbird from the palm of his hand in the living room and smirked, but stayed quiet for the moment.

"See you soon!" Feli kissed Ludwig on the lips before skipping out the door. Ludwig shut the door and stood there smiling like an idiot before his brother did what he did best: ruined the mood.

"Hey, Lud! Walk over here for me, will ya?"

"Erhm, okay."

Gilbert's smirk was so large it almost looked painful when his younger brother winced and waddled to him. "West?"

"East?"

"I never thought you would be on the bottom."

Ludwig gasped and hissed and Gilbert started to cackle. He got a pillow from the couch and beat his brother's head with it.

"Ow!" he cried between laughs. "Stop! Kesesese! S-stop!"

Ludwig stopped and glared at him with his piercing blue eyes. Gilbert's scarlet eyes had tears in them from laughing. "It's just," he stopped smirking. "You always seem so dominate..."

Ludwig roared and continued his blows. Gilbird flew onto the coffee table to watch in amusement.

"What the hell is going on?" Mrs. Beilschmidt asked when she and her husband came from the kitchen.

"Little Feli fucked-!" Ludwig clamped his hand around Gilbert mouth.

"Ignore him," he growled. "And if you say anything," he addressed to his brother, "I'll get Elizaveta to beat you with her frying pan."

Gilbert shivered and nodded. Ludwig got up and walked upstairs to get ready for the day.

"Why was he walking weird?" Mr. Beilschmidt asked.

Gilbert laughed into his hand so Ludwig wouldn't hear. He was going to answer but his father put his hands up. "Never mind. I think I have a good idea." He walked into the kitchen and Mrs. Beilschmidt started to laugh with Gilbert.

* * *

Sometimes curiosity overrides politeness. When Ludwig came to school, everyone was _dying _to know how he was feeling, the details of Saturday night's events, and what happened to the bullies. He was just ignoring them at first, but he had a small crowd following him and was getting pretty annoyed. Not to mention that his mood was a little dampened by the pain in his sides and lower back.

"Excuse me," Mr. Jones emerged from his classroom with his arms crossed. The students all turned to him and silenced. "Leave him alone. If I see any of you bothering him or Feliciano you'll have detention with me. Go to your lockers and get to class."

There were audible sighs and groans but the students did as they were told. When it was just Ludwig, Feli, and Kiku left standing in front of him, his frown disappeared and he winked at them. In the halls they saw Joey, who ran up to them.

"Don't mean to bother you," he looked around for Mr. Jones. "But are you okay?"

Ludwig smiled and nodded. "I'm fine, Joey. Everything is healing. How are you?"

"I'm okay." He shrugged.

"Are you worried about Jack?" Kiku asked.

Joey nodded and Feli gave him a quick hug. "Veh, he'll be fine and out in no time!"

"Yeah, I know," he sighed. He grinned, "Well, at least we won't have to worry about those two."

"Yep!" Feli's eyes widened. "Ooo! That means Ludwig and I can hold hands and we won't get hurt!" He took Ludwig's hand in his own.

Ludwig's cheeks pinked. "Feli, I don't think we're in the clear yet."

"Why do you say that?" Kiku furrowed his brows. Ludwig discreetly pointed down the hallway towards the front door. Deacon Leonard and Father Brooks were strolling down the hall in conversation.

"Of course they have to ruin it," Feli frowned and let go of his boyfriend's hand.

Father spotted them and started to walk over.

"What does he want?" Ludwig asked his friends under his breath.

Father stood in front of Ludwig and put his hand on Ludwig's "Glad to see you're walking around okay," he said with no sincerity and a creepy smile.

"Thank you," he tensed under the unwelcomed touch. Deacon walked by them, eyed them up and down, and walked away.

"You know," Feli said to Joey before entering religion class, "Jack really cares about you. He just wanted to protect you all of that time. Isn't that sweet?"

"Yeah," he smiled awkwardly. "It uh, it was nice of him."

* * *

During religion class, Mrs. Tori skipped the rest of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. "I feel like we've covered some of the topics in those books more than enough for a lifetime," she told the class simply. "Instead, you'll read my favorite book from the Old Testament, probably the whole Bible!" The students looked to one another and rolled their eyes. "You're going to read the book of Job! Whatever you don't read here is for homework tonight!" They were horrified to find out that it was one of the longest books in the Bible. _It's better than reading about gays, _Ludwig thought.

Over the speaker, Sister Katherine made an announcement: "Please pardon this interruption, but Mrs. Lala has jury duty tomorrow, so her 12th grade class," the class listened with anticipation of their Italian class being cancelled, "will be moved to today."

"NOOO!" they all cried.

The expressions on their faces as they moved through the hall to Mrs. Lala's classroom were like they were being sent to prison. "It's not fair," someone groaned.

"That bitch never teaches," a girl huffed. "She just yells at us."

"We've been taking Italian for four years and we haven't even started conjugation yet," Arthur said. "It's ridiculous. We should know so much more."

"Man, I'd rather learn Spanish," a boy said. "Screw Italian."

Feli didn't comment about how Spanish and Italian are extremely similar. He hated Mrs. Lala for making everyone else hate his language. She made mistakes and taught them the wrong things sometimes! She knew Feliciano was a native speaker and never called on him during class. And then she would tell him that he needed to participate more often. He wanted to scream at her. The only person who showed interest in learning Italian was Ludwig, but he taught the German more information than the teacher had. Feli would always laugh at Ludwig's accent, which made the German blush and refuse to say any more Italian.

"But it's really cute!" Feli hugged him. "Besides, I'm sure I would sound funny if I spoke German. Ooo, teach me German!" Feli's German was actually pretty good. Ludwig was surprised that he actually studied something instead of giving up and falling asleep. But pronunciation wise, he needed to practice a lot more. Sometimes the Italian would ask Ludwig to speak to him in German, saying it helped with his pronunciation hearing it from a native speaker. That was a lie. To him, hearing Ludwig's already-gruff voice speaking the forceful language was extremely sexy. But he didn't tell Ludwig that.

When they walked into the room, the scent of onions immediately filled their nostrils. They all coughed and put their noses in their forearms. As if the teacher couldn't get any worse, she smelled.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she raised her arm in the air to reveal a big sweat mark under her arm. "This room didn't smell before you came in. Maybe it's you guys." Great. So now she was accusing them of stinking. "I hope you did your homework." She narrowed her eyes. "By the looks on your faces, you probably didn't."

Arthur raised his hand. "Class time was changed abruptly so most of us thought we had another day to complete our assignment."

She scowled. "Fine. But you shouldn't wait until the last minute. Then all of you take out the text I gave you. We're going around the room and I want you to read it out loud."

Of course when she got to Feliciano, he had no difficulty in reading the simple Italian sentences. She thought otherwise. "Read slower," she told him. "Did you practice at home?"

"No…" he tried not to lose his patience. "But I don't have to…"

"If you're in my class, you do what I say."

"But I know what all of this means!"

"Don't talk back to me. Read."

He resisted flailing his arms in the air in exasperation and read the sentences much slower. He sounded like an idiot. But whatever. He would do what he was told. Everyone left the classroom with a headache. But that was normal when you left that classroom.  
Feli arrived at his usual lunch table before Ludwig did. "Hey! Eliza! Kiku! Guess what I did last night!" he whispered with a smile.

"What?" Elizaveta asked.

He leaned over the table to whisper to both of them. When he pulled back, Kiku's face turned rose and he blinked his coffee eyes, but then smiled. "Well, I am very happy for you."

Eliza grabbed a napkin and held it to her nose, staining it with crimson. She panted and grabbed a brown paper bag and started to hyperventilate.

When Ludwig finally hobbled over to the table, Eliza and Francis were staring at him with smirks and glints in their eyes. Kiku and Arthur had small grins and Feli was beaming. He raised an eyebrow and looked around. "What is it?"

"Oh nothing," Francis flipped his hair. "Just found out why you're walking like that."

Ludwig took a deep breath as a blush spread over his cheeks and silently got up and sat at an empty table. His five friends got up and followed him. Before anyone could say anything, he said, "If any of you say one word, I will ram my foot down your throats."

Arthur narrowed his eyes when Mr. Jones waved at them from across the room. "Look at that fool. Wanker…"

"Speaking of wankers," Francis pointed to Deacon Leonard. Deacon was going around to the lunch tables and talking to the students. Mostly the boys. Only the boys.

"Lower your voices," Sister Katherine said over her microphone.

* * *

Things returned to normal. Ludwig's wounds healed and he didn't need to wear bandages anymore, Feliciano and Ludwig's relationship was better than ever, Elizaveta asked for graphic details after each date, Mr. Jones continued to tease Arthur and the Brit kept mocking the American, Francis kept touching people (mainly Arthur) in the wrong places, and Gilbert kept bothering Ludwig by trying to give him sex advice.

"Make him eat your wurst!" he laughed.

Also, Jack returned to school. Once again, some students were _dying _to know his personal business. "What was it like in juvy?!" they would shout at him.

Mr. Jones had to once again scold the students and threaten them with detention to leave him alone.

"How are you two doing?" he asked Feliciano and Ludwig.

"We're fine!" Feli smiled. "How are you?"

"Actually, okay. It wasn't pleasant in there, but somehow better than I thought it would be." He saw Joey walking down the hall and muttered a curse under his breath. "I have to go."

After school that day, Jack went to cross the street but was stopped when he felt someone pull his arm. He turned around to see Joey standing there with his arms crossed, looking irritated.

"Joe! You scared the shit out of me. Um, hi."

"Hi? That's all you're going to say? You didn't even tell me you got out!" he yelled.

"Hey, quiet down," he put his hands up, "you'll cause a scene."

"Shut up!" He breathed deeply and lowered his voice a little. "You told me not to tell anyone to protect me. But you know what? A true friend wouldn't have tried to hurt me just because those two said so."

"Joseph," he sighed, "you know Nicky hurts people when they don't follow his orders."

"So what?"

" 'So what?' I didn't want to get my ass kicked!"

"So you'd rather kick someone else's ass to save your own?"

"Don't act so innocent," he scowled. "You used to hurt Feliciano, too."

"Yeah, but I had a change of heart."

"Well I did, too!"

"You helped beat him and Ludwig on the night of the hayride. You didn't seem to regret it then."

"What the fuck do you want me to say?! I'm sorry for what I did. I went to juvy for it. I can't magically go back in time and stop myself!"

"Fine. I'll give you that 'cause I can't either. Still, you couldn't even tell me you're back?"

"Why are you so pissed about it?"

"Because I spent the past several weeks worried about you!" The words slipped out of Joey's mouth before he could stop them. They stared at each other with wide eyes.

Ludwig and Feliciano were walking along the sidewalk and Ludwig stopped walking. Feli looked at him and Ludwig pointed down the sidewalk. Feli's lips cured into a grin when he saw Jack and Joey at the corner hugging tightly.

* * *

On Friday, the class was scheduled to walk over to the church at 9 o'clock for confessions. The students started to make confessions in 2nd grade, and most would agree that they had been confessing the same things since then. In the younger grades, no one wanted to tell the priest that they said a curse word, which was considered a big no-no. Although, one girl did in 4th grade.

"Father told me to say ten Hail Mary's," the girl told her classmates. "I only said three," she smiled and felt naughty.

Feliciano, being the good Catholic he was (aside from being in a same-sex relationship…), really tried to examine his conscience and try to remember any sins he had committed since his last confession. But what was he supposed to say? That he didn't share his pasta with his brother? It's not like he did anything bad. Besides, God is supposed to know your thoughts, right? So he would know if you're sorry. _Right, _Feli smiled, _he knows. _

Ludwig hated going to confession. A priest is never allowed to share what he hears in a confessional. So basically, what happens in the confessional stays in a confessional. Ludwig wasn't too sure about that. There were three priests in the church: Father Brooks, Father Check, and Father Rodia. He liked Father Check and Father Rodia. They were pretty nice and never brought up touchy subjects. But every time he went to confession, he ended up with Father Brooks. This time was no exception. He pushed the red curtain aside and kneeled down in the confessional. As usual he told Father that he did not go to Mass on Sunday.

"Do you love God?" Father asked.

"Yes," he responded after a short pause.

"Do you want to spend eternity in Heaven with him?"

"Yes."

"Then you can take forty-five minutes out of your day to be with him. If you don't go to church, you'll go to Hell."

Ludwig highly doubted that, but nevertheless responded, "Yes, Father."

"Any other sins?"

Ludwig thought for a moment. Feeling a bit spiteful, he grinned, knowing Father wouldn't be able to see it through the window. "Yes. I have bedded with another male."

"You are aware that is a sin?"

"I don't think it is."

"Of course it is!" the volume of Father's voice rose. "It is a sin to have sex before marriage and it is an even _bigger _sin to bed with your same sex."

"Why?"

"Why? Because God said so."

"How do you know what God wants?"

"The Bible says so!"

"The rules in the Bible reflect the social rules at that time period," Ludwig responded coolly. "Of course it would say it's a sin."

"Ludwig," Father's voice grew deeper (Ludwig guessed he was trying to sound intimidating, but it wasn't working). "Yes, I know it's you. I can tell by your accent. Are you a Christian?"

"Yes."

"Then how can you question the Bible?"

"I'll practice my faith how I want to." He stood up. "Goodbye, Father." He left the confessional with a grin on his face, knowing that Father was not allowed to repeat anything that had been said in there. Father was loud enough for the students standing in line outside the confessional to hear. The girls were smirking at him. He blushed and walked faster.

"What took so long?" Mrs. Tori asked.

"We just disagreed on something."

She smiled. "Just say your penance."

Ludwig let before Father could give him a penance, so he just said an Our Father.

After school Ludwig and Feliciano decided to go get something to eat at a fast-food restaurant. They went up to the counter and placed their orders. "I kind of feel nasty eating here," Feli said while waiting for their food.

"Why is that?"

"A bunch of information leaked out that this place sends a bunch of money to anti-gay organizations. Veh, but I love the food too much to stop coming here."

"I didn't know that," Ludwig frowned.

"Yeah, but oh well. It won't stop me from eating their food or dating you," he kissed Ludwig's cheek.

"Excuse me," a worker, who looked like the manager, addressed them. "We don't serve your kind here."

"Our kind?" Ludwig raised an eyebrow. The man talked like they were animals.

"Hey, leave them alone," a man said. "They're not bothering anyone."

"We're going to have to ask you to leave," the manager ignored the man.

"Oh really?" Feli tilted his head to the side. "Okay, Luddy. Let's go." Feli quickly grabbed Ludwig by the shoulders and smashed his lips against his. Feli smiled when he heard cheers coming from the other customers. Ludwig, too shocked to move or speak, just stood there and barely responded to the kiss. Feli pulled away and grabbed Ludwig's hand. "Ciao!" he waved cheerfully at the man and exited the place with Ludwig. "Did you hear the people cheering?" Feli asked excitedly. "I was so happy!"

"Yeah," Ludwig mumbled, face red from the kiss. But he couldn't repress a grin. Maybe they weren't so alone after all.

* * *

**That was about Chick-fil-a. For my readers outside of the country, it's a fast food place that doesn't support gay marriage. There's a video of two straight men pretending to be gay and kissing outside of the restaurant in protest. There was a college that banded it from its campus in protest. But I have to say, I eat there. What can I say? Their food is amazing, and it's not like I really make a difference.**

**And yes, Feli topped.**

**Don't go away yet, bitch! This is NOT the last chapter! The next one will be. It'll be more like an epilogue, I guess.**

**Please review!~**


	15. Chapter 15

**Oh my God...this is the last chapter. **

**Hey, I'm almost done my summer stuff! I have a few more math problems and that's it. I start high school in a week...I'm so nervous! I don't want to grow up :( It's weird that when I started this story I was still in grade school...Makes me very sad.**

**Thank you for clearing up the whole PruCan thing. I was totally unaware of the April Fools' thing. I still don't like that pairing, though. I'm sorry.**

**And btw, I know that most managers of Chick-Fil-a don't give a rat's ass if a gay couple walks in, but this is a big country and there's douche bags everywhere, right? It might happen somewhere.**

**The Final Chapter**

**Enjoy!~**

* * *

Feliciano moves around his room in a hurry, smiling at the orange tint his room has taken from the setting spring sun. _It looks so pretty! _He scurries to his closet and pulls out a pair of black trousers. He shimmies into them and his stomach is filled with butterflies. In an hour is his school dance. Because it was a Catholic school, they did not have an actual prom. Fear of premarital sex, the staff and Father Brooks had said. Instead they had a dance where the students could act like it was a regular prom, but the teachers, priests, and sisters would be there to keep a sharp eye on them. Students could slow dance and hug, but no kissing. Feli thought of the time when a lady came in to talk to his class about chastity. It's not surprising that chastity would be taught in a Catholic school. No, premarital sex is a sin in the Church's eyes. But the things they said were so…stupid. They gave out a pamphlet with a bunch of things Catholic teenagers shouldn't do. Girls shouldn't wear bikinis, or any kind of clothing that revealed skin. The pamphlet also said:

"_Do not French-kiss. It is arousing for a girl."_

Feli just couldn't understand that one. How is it not arousal for a guy? It is for him when he does it with Luddy…

That reminded him of last Friday afternoon. He was in his room with Ludwig and they were French-kissing. Ludwig had his arms wrapped around Feli's small frame and Feli's fingers were running through Ludwig's messy hair. They were far too hot and in their own little worlds to hear the bedroom door slowly open.

"What are you doing?" a small voice asked.

They jumped out their skin and turned to see Feli's baby cousin, Ella, staring at them. Feli loved kids and loved his cousin, but he was very pissed. He pushed her out of his room and locked the door.

Something else from the chastity pamphlet that made him laugh was that it had a picture of the Eiffel Tower with the symbol for "no" through it. Francis laughed the most saying, "Ohonhonhon, well can we French help it that we show our love with our bodies?"

Along with the chastity lesson, the lady also talked to them about masturbation.

"Is it a sin?" a boy asked. When she told him that it was, he said quietly, "I'm going to Hell…"

Feli looked at his reflection, a flash of metal catching his eye. His smile widens when he looks at the iron cross around his neck. It was a gift from Ludwig for Christmas.

"_It's an old family tradition," Ludwig said once Feliciano opened the box, "to give a necklace like this to someone you really c-care about," he averted his eyes with pink cheeks. "I, uh, thought I'd give it to you to show that you….mean a lot to me."_

_Feli's eyes sparkled and he quickly put the cross around his neck. "That's adorable!" he kissed Ludwig's cheek. "I promise to keep good care of it! Veh, I'll never take it off! Ooo, you have one, too! I never noticed!"_

_Ludwig smiled. "Yeah."_

He's kept that promise since then. Every time Lovino sees it he just rolls his eyes and mutters something about Feliciano being "branded as that potato-bastard's bitch."

He put the cross inside his white shirt and fumbled with his blue tie. The tie was close to the color of his graduation robe. They were delivered to the school and a few weeks ago, the students took a big group picture in them, and then individual pictures.

"_I can't believe we're wearing these," Kiku commented. "Kind of surreal, isn't it?"_

"_Yeah," Feli frowned. "I never thought I would actually wear this. When we were little we would look up at the seniors and think how big they were."_

"_Now we're the big kids," Arthur sighed._

_Feli smiled. "Hey, we still have a month left! It isn't over yet!"_

Feli thought about slicking his hair back with gel but decided against it. He never liked the way his hair looked with gel. Besides, his curl would never stay down. He looked himself over and smiled. He looked good! He grabbed a bottle of cologne and applied some on. He wanted to smell nice and pretty.

"Stop worrying about your appearance like a girl," Lovino said from the doorway.

"Hm? But you always worry about what you're going to wear when you go out with Antonio."

"Want me to strangle you with the chain of that cross?!"

"Ahh, no!"

"Then shut the hell up!"

Feli looked at himself in the mirror one last time before walking past his brother. "Well, I'm off to Luddy's and then to the dance. Bye-bye!"

"Just leave already," he muttered.

Gilbert answered the door when Feli knocked. "Hey, Feli!" he smiled. "You look adorable!"

"Thanks! Is Luddy ready?"

"Hold up a sec, little guy. LUDWIG!" he yelled. "GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE AND SEE HOW CUTE FELI IS BEFORE I TAKE HIM FOR MYSELF!"

Hurried footsteps were heard and Gilbert was yanked away from the door by his brother. Ludwig wore a suit similar to Feli's, except his tie was red instead of blue.

"Veh, you look so handsome!" Feli gaped at his boyfriend's flawless appearance.

"Thank you," he smiled shyly. "You look great." Actually, Ludwig thought he looked unbelievably beautiful in every single way possible to the point where he felt like his heart was going to explode, but he didn't say that.

"Wait!" Mrs. Beilschmidt appeared with a camera. "I need pictures of you two! You're too adorable!"

"Mom, please don't," Ludwig pleaded.

"Hush and…oh, the sunset is a perfect background! Stand next to Feli. Now!" she added in a forceful voice.

Ludwig groaned and stood next to Feli on his front porch. "Is this necessary?"

"Yes. Shh. Now don't stand there all stiff!"

Feli giggled and Ludwig's blush deepened. This was _not _in his comfort zone whatsoever.

"Grab each other's hands and smile," Mr. Beilschmidt said from inside.

Ludwig's jaw dropped at his father's suggestion. "That's a perfect idea!" Rosa smiled.

Ludwig's pale fingers were intertwined with Feliciano's tan ones, hands up near their chests with wide smiles (although Ludwig's was pained).

"Ludwig," Mrs. Beilschmidt frowned. "Can't you genuinely look happy in a picture for once?"

"It's embarrassing," he mumbled.

Feli was the only one who could really make Ludwig laugh anytime, anywhere, and he knew this. So he stood on his toes and whispered something into Ludwig's ear. The others didn't know what it was, but the instant Ludwig started to laugh his mother pressed the capture button on her camera. On the camera's screen she saw the result. Feli was smiling brightly at Ludwig, who was laughing with a slight blush on his face, their hands still locked together. She showed Gilbert.

"D'awwww, look at that!" he half-mocked.

Ludwig stopped smiling and removed his hands from Feliciano's to try to grab the camera.

"Oh no," she put the camera down her shirt. "I'm keeping this and getting it developed so we can put it in a frame."

"No!" he hid his face in his hands.

"Hey guys!"

Ludwig looked up to see Elizaveta smiling at him in a black dress with green trim. Her brown hair was pinned up in a bun with a few wavy strands falling onto her face.

"Well," Gilbert smiled. "You clean up nicely!"

"Yeah, quiet," she snapped at him. "Anyway," she smiled, "you two look great!"

"Want to see the picture I took of them?" Mrs. Beilschmidt asked.

Eliza squealed and Ludwig knew it was going to be a long night.

* * *

The three walked a few blocks down the banquet hall where the dance was being held. Surprisingly, the school wasn't being cheap and actual rented the place from seven in the evening to twelve. They even had a photographer, who immediately took a picture of Feliciano and Ludwig when they started holding hands.

"Dummkopf," Ludwig huffed.

The open bar was only for the adults, as expected since the students were under the age of twenty-one. The person who had the most drinks was Father Brooks. Every time Feli looked at him, he had a new glass of wine in his hand. None of the sisters drank one drop, though.

At Feliciano's assigned table were Ludwig, Eliza, Kiku, Arthur, and Francis. They were eating dinner when Mr. Jones pulled up a chair.

"Shouldn't you be with the other teachers?" Arthur sighed.

"They're getting drunk and it's getting kinda creepy. Man, I wish they had hamburgers here."

"What banquet hall serves hamburgers?" Arthur narrowed his eyes.

"Awesome ones!"

All in all, the dance was pretty fun. The teachers were too drunk to care about what the kids were doing. The priests and sisters left around nine and that's when the DJ started to play some real dance music. Ludwig never liked dancing, but he at least attempted to dance. The dance floor was so crowded that no one noticed his awkward movements, anyway. The teachers were out dancing with each other (which was quite disturbing to watch). Mr. Jones stayed with Feli's group and turned out to be a pretty good dancer.

"Alriiiight," the DJ said over his microphone. "I'm gonna play a slow dance for ya. Don't make those faces! There's one at every dance! Pair up with your special someone!"

Mr. Jones smiled at Arthur and winked.

"Don't. Even. Think about it!" Arthur quickly stomped away.

A good chunk of the students left the dance floor, making Ludwig nervous.

"Feli, I really don't want to-"

"Come on!" Feli pulled him close and put an arm around his neck and the other arm connecting with Ludwig's. "Put your hand around my waist!"

Ludwig may have been embarrassed at certain points during the school year, but this had to top it. Holding his boyfriend on the dance floor for everyone to see…His face was so red it looked like he was sick. There may have been other couples dancing, but most eyes were on them. Ludwig felt the stares burning into his skin and making his blood boil.

"Hey," Feli quiet voice brought Ludwig out of his dismay. "No one is going to hurt us anymore. Don't be afraid."

Ludwig released a shaky breath he didn't know he was holding and nodded. After what seemed like hours, the song ended. Ludwig was expecting someone to come up to him and call him a faggot. Someone to give him a dirty look. But nothing happened. Everyone just got back on the dance floor and danced to whatever pop song was now playing. He smiled. Feli was right. He didn't need to be afraid anymore.

* * *

The day that every kid dreams of finally came. June 13th was the day of their graduation. Right after Mass, awards would be given out in the church. The students were lined up outside of the church in size-order, shortest to tallest. Feliciano had mixed feelings. He spent most of his life in that school. He knew the surroundings, staff, students and rules like the back of his hand. He remembered his first day at that school back in kindergarten. That's when he met and instantly became friends with Elizaveta, Kiku, and Francis. He didn't become friends with Arthur until sixth grade. Up until then, he was afraid of him (he doesn't know why to this day). Grade school was fun for him. High school was hell for obvious reasons. He hated living in fear each day he attended class, just waiting for them to harm him in some way. This year was the worst the bullying ever was, and yet the more Feli thought it over, the more he realized that this year was his favorite. For the majority of the school year, he spent time with Ludwig and with his friends. What isn't fun about that? Plus, he found out he got accepted to college (the same college as Ludwig).

"Feli?" Ludwig waved a hand in front of his face. "You okay? You were in a daze."

"Yeah. Just spaced out," he smiled, his blue cap almost falling in his eyes because it was a tad too big.

Ludwig felt sort of neutral about graduation. He only spent a year there, and the first three months were nothing short of torment. However, he had to admit that the greater part of the school year was pretty fun. He made great friends and a marvelous boyfriend. The graduation started and they processed down the aisle, camera flashes from parents blinding them. Sister Katherine was leading the choir in song, her horrifying voice cracking at each note and making people grimace. The weird music teacher was there, laughing weirdly on the side. It was just like a regular Mass until Father Brooks started his homily.

He stepped in front of the altar and fixed the little microphone clipped on his collar.

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls," he starts, "I stand before you now with mixed feelings."

Ludwig rolls his eyes. _Ja, right. Prick. _

"You know, this is the best time of your lives," he addresses the kids. "It makes me so angry when people my age say they don't want to be younger. I'd pull out every tooth in my mouth to be eighteen again." This earns chuckles from the adults, but none from the teenagers. "But seriously. Nothing is better than youth." He reached in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a piece paper. "It reminds me of the song 'Forever Young' by Bob Dylan. Don't worry, I won't sing it. I'll just read the lyrics."

_Cut the crap, _Feli thought as Father read the lyrics. _This is just all part of his I'm-a-nice-pastor-who-cares-about-the-kids act._ He finished reading a looked back up at the crowd. "You're going to have to make some tough decisions in life," he started to walk down the aisle. "You're going to have teachers, co-workers, bosses that you won't like. But you can't give up. You have to prove them wrong. There's the easy thing to do, and then there's the right thing to do." After a short pause, he continued. "I have to say, I really enjoyed this class. I would come into your classroom every Wednesday or Thursday with my little maroon Bible in my hand and at least try to teach you Catholic values. I watched you grow from kindergarten. It's bittersweet to let you go, but in order for you to grow, we _have _to let you go. God bless you." He walked back up to the altar and continued the Mass. After Mass was over, everyone was told to sit back down so awards could be given out. Most awards were scholarships to Catholic high schools, so Ludwig and Feliciano didn't expect anything because their college was public. _These awards mean nothing. No one will remember who won what, _Ludwig thought indifferently.

"The award for highest general average goes to," Sister Katherine looked down at the paper she was holding, "Kiku Honda and Ludwig Beilschmidt," she smiled. The two exchanged surprised glances and stood up, taking their certificate and shaking Father's hand (Ludwig would remind himself to wash his hands later). When he sat back down in his place Feli beamed at him and gave him the thumbs-up. Ludwig and Kiku also won first honors along with Feliciano, Elizaveta, Arthur, and others.

"The religion award goes to," Sister Katherine fixed her glasses, "Feliciano Vargas and Ludwig Beilschmidt."

Their classmates and family members looked at them like "seriously?" and the two looked at each other with the same mystified expression. The got their award, which was a Bible, and sat back down, both suppressing laughter.

Most of the same people won most of the awards. They were the teachers' favorites. But Feli and Ludwig didn't mind. They were still staring at their Bibles in awe. The last award was handed out and Father Brooks talked over his microphone.

"Well, that's it. I am please to announce the class of 2012, the 104th class of our school, officially graduated!"

The parents and staff cheered and the former class threw their caps in the air and cheered as well. They collected their caps from the floor (a pretty difficult task since they were the same color but some different sizes) and went into the school's cafeteria for cake and snacks. Gilbert ran up to Ludwig and shook his head. "The religion award. You. The religion award?!"

He shrugged, "I'm just as surprised as you are."

"Let me get a picture of you with your brother!" Mrs. Beilschmidt held up the camera. "Hans, get in there with your sons!" The three smiled with Ludwig in the middle and Rosa took the picture. "My little schnitzel graduated high school," Rosa shook her head.

"Mutti!" Ludwig blushed. "Don't call me that in public!"

"It's so cute!" Feli appeared beside him. "Can I call you my little schnitzel?"

"NEIN!"

"Feliciano!" Roma called. "Take a picture with me and your brother!"

Feli skipped away and Mr. Beilschmidt smiled. "Even thought the religion award is a mystery, congratulations on the awards for your grades."

"Thanks," he smiled.

Mr. Beilschmidt put an arm around Ludwig and gave him a half-hug, "I'm really proud of you. Not just for graduating."

"I know."

Roma, Feliciano, and Lovino came over to them. "Ciao!" Roma held out his hand to Hans and Rosa. "I'm Feli's grandfather, Roma. You're Ludwig's parents, right?"

"Right," Rosa smiled and shook his hand. "I'm Rosa and this is my husband, Hands."

"Hallo," Mr. Beilschmidt shook his hand. "You look pretty familiar…"

"I was a good friend of your father's."

"Now that you mention it…I do remember you around him a lot…"

Feli saw Mrs. Tori and tugged on the sleeve of Ludwig's robe. "Let's ask her why we got these Bibles, eh? Mrs. Tori! Hey, over here!"

She smiled and walked over to them. "Congratulations," she said.

"Thanks," Ludwig furrowed his brows. "But we have to know; why did we get the religion award?"

Her smile only widened. "I believe you two understand the subject better than anyone here, including some of the staff." She walked away and left them in confusion.

At the end of the night, the group of friends was standing in front of the school, just staring up at the building.

"We'll never come back here," Arthur said quietly. "After all these years…"

Ludwig didn't have the same feeling, but he did feel sorry for his friends. He felt the same way about leaving his school and home in Germany.

"We've been here since we were five," Eliza said.

Feli sniffed. "I don't want to leave!"

"We have to," Francis frowned. "It is a part of life, oui?"

"I don't wanna grow up," tears slid down Feli's cheeks.

Ludwig wiped them away. "Feli, I don't think you'll ever grow up. In a good way."

Feli grinned. I guess not. You're only as young as you feel, no?"

"Yeah," Ludwig grinned back.

"But," Feli frowned again, "I don't want to never see you guys again."

"That is the beauty of technology," Kiku reassured. "We all have cell phones and have each others' numbers. We all have Facebook accounts, as well."

"Yeah," Eliza put her arms around Feli. "I would never forget about my little Feli!"

Feli started to cry and they formed a group hug around him. Luckily, they weren't the only ones so they didn't look like total weirdos. Most of the other kids were hugging and crying, too.

"Pinky promise to stay in touch!" Feli's lower lip was quivering.

They all made a pinky promise and Ludwig kissed him softly on the lips. "I'll never leave you," he whispered. Feli laughed and hugged Ludwig.

Mr. Jones walked up to them and smiled sadly. "Man, you guys were my favorite students. I'll miss you."

"But you have a Facebook, right?" Arthur asked. "We can still talk to you on there."

"Aw, Artie still wants to talk to me!" he trapped him in a huge hug.

"Let go of me, git!" Arthur pushed him away.

Mrs. Jones chuckled. "All joking aside, I really hope you guys do well in college."

Right before Feli and Ludwig said goodbye to each other, Jack and Joey walked up to them.

There was a long moment of silence before Joey smiled. "Good luck, guys."

"You too," Feli pulled them both into a hug.

Ludwig offered them a small smile and nod. "See you around."

"Yeah," Jack smiled. "Keep in touch, okay?"

Ludwig nodded and they walked away and before getting into a car, took a hold of each other's hands.

* * *

Four weeks later, Feliciano and Ludwig were sitting under a tree at the same park they visited on Halloween and when Nicky, Vinny, Jack, Joey, and Feli got arrested. "Brings back memories, doesn't it?" Feli rested his head on Ludwig's broad shoulder.

"Mhm," Ludwig leaned his head on top of Feli's. "Don't they get out of juvy in a month or so?"

"Yeah. But they don't know where we live, so it's all okay." They watched children play in silence. "Ludwig?"

"Yes?" he looked down, seeing Feli's iron cross sparkle in the sunlight.

"Nothing. Just wanted to stare into your eyes. They're so pretty."

Ludwig smiled and put his forehead against Feliciano's. "You're too cute sometimes."

He purred and rubbed his nose against Ludwig's, then kissing his soft lips. They kissed a bit lazily, but sweetly for good bit before pulling back. Ludwig's brushed one of Feliciano's bangs away from his face and kissed his forehead. "You know that I won't break my promise," he whispered. "About leaving you."

"I know," Feli smiled. "I won't leave you either. Veh, I hope we're together forever and ever and ever because I love you so much!"

Ludwig hugged him and hid his burning face and Feli's hair. "Hm, yeah. I hope that because I feel the same emotion about you, too."

Not exactly the most romantic confession, but it was perfect for Feliciano. He hugged him tighter. "Veh, I'm so happy!"

Later in life, Feliciano would become a gourmet chef and Ludwig would be the engineer for the city. They visited each other all the time just like they did in high school. They still hung out with their friends. None broke their pinky promise. On their 8th anniversary, Ludwig proposed to Feliciano on Valentine's Day. Feliciano burst into tears of joy and happily accepted. Being in a state where same-sex marriage was legalized, they got married a few months later. Kiku, Elizaveta, Francis, Arthur, Antonio, Jack, Joey, and Mr. Jones were among the guests who came to their wedding. The people who cried the most were Gilbert, Mrs. Beilschmidt, Elizaveta, and Mr. Jones. Kiku took a video the whole time with additional pictures for Eliza.

"My awesome little brother," Gilbert hugged Ludwig at the ceremony, "is married! I remember when you were all small and adorable!" he sobbed into Ludwig's shoulder. Ludwig gently pushed his brother away and smiled. Although he would never admit it, Lovino was actually happy at the wedding. When Antonio would point out that he was smiling, he would quickly frown and curse in Italian.

No more bullies. No more homophobes (at least who directly affected their lives). No more priests or deacons. They were married, forever bonded and keeping their promise. They didn't even think about their senior year of high school anymore. If they did, it was only the positive parts of it. They were far too happy and far too in love to care about what happened to Nicky and Vinny. They weren't bothered by those people. They knew that those kinds of people are a prisoner to their own hatred. They also knew that they weren't wrong. Love is love, no matter what gender, and they were a perfect example of that.

* * *

**The End**

**Oh my holy balls...It's over! **

**Thank you SO MUCH for the reviews and support. I honestly didn't think this would get as many reviews as my last one, let alone more! With the reviews of this chapter (please review :D) this might go to 300 reviews! Awesome!**

**I'm so sad! I didn't want this to end. I only thought the maximum number of chapters for this would be 8 and it turned out to be 15. Just wow. I'm going to miss writing GerIta! :'( I also loved writing about my school. I loved reading your reactions to certain characters and certain things. By the way, the chastity lady didn't visit my class, but my sister's when she went to that school. Yes, the pamphlet said that. Yes, Father "Brooks" really said that stuff at my graduation.**

**With the real Mrs. Tori...I think I convinced her about gay marriage. At the beginning of the year, she was outright against it, but by the end, she kind of just had no comment like in this story. But when she was really against something, she would ALWAYS fight against it. For instance, she's completely against abortion (I'm just giving this as an example, not to comment on where I stand). There were a good bit of us who were Pro Choice and she fought with them to no end. But with this...she didn't by the end of the year...**

**I didn't forget about the teacher!Alfred and student!Arthur story. I need you to tell me this: do you want the school to be set in this one? Do you want there to be the same teachers, or different ones? Do you want the school to still be Catholic? I'm telling you right now that for that story, the Church and homosexuality will NOT be an issue. It may be mentioned, but not an actual conflict.**

**If I put it in the same school there will not be references to this story. If there is, they would by tiny. Please let me know on these things. I need to know what you want.**

**I was genuinely surprised by the amount of people who messaged me saying that they're gay or bisexual and saying that their parents don't know or are against it. Time to give another prep-talk like the last story.**

**I can't truly comment. I'm straight (although my father thinks I'm gay because I like gays...little does he know that I think two gay guys together are sexy. I hope he never finds my computer pictures). But I'll try to relate the best I can. Listen, I won't sugar-coat this. There are going to be people who have hatred. In some cases, those people will be in your own family. Is it right? No, but that's the way it is. You just have to keep your head up high, fight for what you believe in, or sometimes, it's better to just walk away. Leave the past behind you. Sometimes it's better to forget. There will always be people who will not accept you for who you are. But for every person who rejects, there's one ready with open arms. You're not alone. If you're afraid to tell your parents, tell them that it's who you are and nothing will change it. **

**I know it's difficult. Those people are unhappy because of their amount of hatred. They get what they deserve just by hating. I have never understood racism or homophobia. My attitude is the more people you accept, the more friends you can have! Seriously, life's too short to go around hating people for no reason at all. P****lease never think for a second that there is something wrong with you. That's completely false.**

**I loved writing each and every bit of this story, and I hope you loved reading it.**

**With all of my love,**

**Gianna~ **


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